Information for fruit and vegetables business in CIS
Georgian apple export breakthrough, exports to Russia up 100 times!
According to EastFruit, in January 2019 Georgia exported 847 tons of apples to foreign markets. It is the record monthly volume of Georgia's apple export for the whole history of independence. For comparison, Georgia exported just 6 tons of apples in January 2018; thus, exports went up 140 times year-over-year.
“Due to an increase in Georgian production of apples, their prices sharply fell in the domestic market in autumn 2018 and remain rather low until today. This is exactly why Georgia is forced to look for new export markets for its apples, and the Russian market is a natural choice for Georgian exports, as requirements to quality are low there, prices are high, and the competition is artificially limited by the so-called “anti-sanctions”. As a result, Georgia ships 92% of its total apple exports to Russia”, said Mr. Andriy Yarmak, Economist of FAO Investment Department. “We estimate Georgian apple exports to have totaled 2,600 tons in the first half of the season (August-January), 30 times as high as in the same period of the previous season».
Besides Russia, Georgia also shipped its apples to Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Armenia and exported early fruits to Kazakhstan at the beginning of the season.
In addition, Georgia sharply reduced apple imports in the current season under conditions of growing exports. During six months, Georgia imported 159 tons of fresh apples, with Turkey, the Netherlands, Poland and Ukraine as the main suppliers.