December 19 2006, 16:29

Ample supplies of Polish apples affected domestic apple prices in Ukraine

According to the analysts of leading Ukrainian weekly publication for the horticultural industry "Ahroohliad: ovochi ta frukty", demand for quality apples produced in Ukraine during the past week has decreased significantly. This made some growers lower their prices for apples by 15-20%. In some regions prices declined by more than 25%.

According to market players, the decrease was caused by sharply growing imports of apples from Poland after the lower seasonal import duty for apples and pears came into effect on December 1, 2006. The size of the duty is only 5%. According to the industry experts, another reason that affected apple price was growing demand for tropical fruits (bananas, mandarins, oranges, etc.). This is a traditional seasonal trend that usually occurs in part on expense of apples and other more traditional fruits.

According to the forecast of Agricultural Marketing Project's experts, average wholesale price of high quality apples in Ukraine the current season will grow by 25-35% compared to past year's price. In the recent couple of weeks prices for apples in pears in Poland have also started to grow.