Information for fruit and vegetables business in CIS
The Majority of Zakarpattya Farmers Have Already Sold Their Cabbage Supplies
The majority of farmers in Zakarpattya have already sold their stored cabbage, according to the information provided by Lyudmila Dzyamko, Market Information Specialist of the Zakarpattya office of the Agricultural Marketing Project. Farmers are largely forced to sell cabbage because of the need for operational assets to begin the new season. Seed purchases and repairs on machinery customarily start in January. Producers also need money to start soil preparations for the new season now, so it is not reasonable for them to count on possible profit after the cabbage prices increase. In addition, many producers think it is a unfounded risk to miss the opportunity to sell cabbage at $0.35/kg on the wholesale market. Based on available information the estimated cost of cabbage production is $0.03/kg, so the wholesale price of $0.35/kg is highly acceptable for producers. Despite of the reduced supply of stored cabbage by Zakarpattya producers, the price situation of the region won't change dramatically. Zakarpattya oblast produces insignificant volumes of late cabbage so off-season vendors must supply cabbage here from the other regions, primarily L'viv oblast. Still, some price growth is possible in the specialists' opinion.