May 17 2006, 09:26

Strawberry prices are twice as high this year than in 2005

Strawberry started to bloom in the central regions of Ukraine, according to information provided by the Agricultural Marketing Project to "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" journal. The producers from the southern regions of Ukraine expect to have first strawberry harvest not sooner than in the late decade of May. In average, the supplies will start one-two weeks later than usual. Strawberry prices will probably decline at 20ies of May.

An average wholesale price for strawberry is about $5.8/kg on Kyiv wholesale market at the present moment; the price has already declined down to $2.9/kg on BRONISZE wholesale market in Warsaw, Poland. At the same period of time past year wholesale strawberry shipments cost about $1.96-3.9/kg, i.e. twice as less than now. We'd like to point out that large wholesale shipments of strawberry are not offered for sale on the other wholesale markets of Ukraine.

Late May 2005 wholesale prices for strawberry were about $1.3/kg on Kyiv wholesale market and $0.88/kg on KOPANI market in Kherson oblast. We can suppose that late May 2006 the wholesale price is likely to by 1.5-2 times higher. However, the price for this berry is expected to decrease rapidly as soon as in the first decade of June; according to the preliminary evaluations, the price decline will last till early July. Because of the delayed ripening process "Strawberry season" (when strawberry is actively harvested and sold) can last till mid July.

AMP information. The leading strawberry producers are Dnepropetrovsk and Zhytomyr oblasts which together secure up to 28% of gross strawberry production in the country. These oblasts are also the largest strawberry suppliers to the other regions of Ukraine. Donetsk and Cherkasy oblasts also produce relatively large volumes. Despite of this fact, Donetsk oblast does not grow enough strawberry to satisfy the demand on inner oblast market.

Kyiv oblast and AR Crimea suffer from strawberry deficit the most. Kyiv oblast supplies almost 45% of the demand; AR Crimea is able to satisfy only 18-20% the customers' needs. Odesa oblast is the largest supplier of early strawberry to the other oblasts of the country.