February 16 2006, 09:05

Ukrainian juice producers can reorient on imported raw materials

The Market Monitoring service of "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" contacts 500-750 players of Ukrainian produce market daily; it informs that large Ukrainian companies - juice producers worry much about high prices on produce raw materials observed in recent years in our country. In particular, tomatoes are blamed for too high purchase prices, to the processors' opinion. The prices on this product are often overestimated; the processors find it easier to import high-quality tomato paste for juice production than to make juice from the national raw materials.

In the world the fully mechanized industrial tomato production is actively developing on large acreages (100 ha and more); the majority of Ukrainian tomatoes for processing are grown using much manual labor. The cost production grows and makes the produce price noncompetitive. At the same time, Ukraine has everything necessary for the dynamic development of the industrial tomato production for processors' needs. If the production is handled professionally, Ukrainian tomatoes will be cheaper compared to the majority of other countries. Several foreign investors have already appeared in the southern regions of Ukraine this year; they lease large acreages, bring equipment and agricultural machinery and plan to produce tomatoes for processing. It left to hope that more Ukrainian producers will use the same approach to tomato production. Vegetable and fruit juices consumption is growing by high rates in Ukraine, that's why from year to year the juice producers will demand more raw materials for tomato, apple, peach, apricot, sour cherry, sweet cherry, pear, plum and other juices production.