October 27 2006, 10:44

Newly harvested Polish apples started entering Ukrainian market

According to information provided by the Market Information Specialists of "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" journal, the supplies of Polish apples to Ukrainian market have increased substantially since recently. The wholesale price for Polish apples is $0.52-0.58/kg; at the same time, the price range is wider for Ukrainian apples: $0.39/kg to $0.98/kg. This week, in addition to Polish apples, the imported apples of Moldavian and Macedonian origin have entered Kyiv wholesale market.

To the opinion of the analysts of the Agricultural Marketing Project, the shipments of Polish apples are supplied to Ukraine without import tax and duty payments. This conclusion was made on the basis of the wholesale price for apple in Poland which is now about $0.39-0.58/kg.

However, some national producers start to reconsider the sales prices for apples in view to decrease them. They take into account the competitive price for imported apples and the absence of sufficient capacity for long-term storage of all harvested commodities. The market players say that apple harvest in Ukraine is on a relatively modest level because of winter frosts and unfavorable weather conditions during the vegetation period. So, the price growth for apples can be forecasted this season. According to the forecast of the Agricultural Marketing Project, the gross apple production will be 8-12% lower this year than in 2005.

To the opinion of Andriy Yarmak, the Deputy Director of the Agricultural Marketing Project, the share of quality marketable apples in the gross harvest 2006 will even increase; however, the total production volume will stay practically unchangeable. If there factor was different, the decrease of inner supply of national apples against the demand growth would result in even more dramatic price growth for national commodities.

According to information of the analysts of the "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" journal, the price situation on apple market is able to change soon, cause the decreased seasonal tax for apple import (only 5%) comes into force on December the 1st. This factor led to the 200 times growth of the official import past year. Import supplies can grow even more this year. This fact is confirmed by the high interest of Polish apple suppliers to the participation in the third international conference "Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine 2006. Open Market" to be held December 5th-6th 2006 in Kyiv.