December 19 2005, 14:31 Agrarian Marketing Project

Banana Price Increase May Result in Greater Apply Consumption

This past week banana prices increased 8% on the average in Ukrainian retail markets. Price growth on bananas and a simultaneous decrease on apple prices are likely to change market patterns, speculate the specialists. Bananas and apples are constantly competing in the fresh fruit market and when the price on one of these fruits is not reasonable in the eyes of consumers some opt for the other fruit. Apple import tax has decreased and as a result prices have decreased. Many popular apple varieties now cost much less than bananas and that appeals to consumers.

It's worth mentioning that according to the official statistics Ukraine significantly increased its banana import in 2005. During 2002-2004 Ukraine imported 70-90,000 tons of bananas, but already more than 160,000 tons of bananas have been imported to Ukraine during the first eight months of 2005. More than 90% of the bananas are supplied from Ecuador. Banana import is relatively stable throughout a year, although some decline is observed in during August and September. This is the same period when apple prices are at their lowest.

Banana price growth is contributed to a higher demand before the holidays according to importers' opinions. Still the experts say that import companies take advantage of the situation and increase the margin slightly.