February 1 2007, 09:23

Polish companies make more than € 1.3 bln. profit on produce exports

According to information provided by FreshPlaza.com, Polish companies gained € 1.33 bln. in 2005 due to the export of fresh and processed produce. The vegetable, fruit and berry exporting profit has been demonstrating a quite good growth rates in recent years (especially as for quantitative measurements) despite of the embargo imposed on the produce supplies to Russia, and despite of the low prices for frozen berries which have always been an important item of Polish export.

One of the reasons for exporting volumes to grow, to the specialists' opinion, is the entrance of the country to the European Union. This fact lifted all trade restrictions. The entrance of Poland to the EU benefited the producers of berries and mushrooms the most; they have significantly increased the exporting shipments. The volume of the exported fresh mushrooms (champignons) exceeded 90,000 tons € 120-130 mln. The export of Polish apples has amounted around 400,000 tons in recent years.

According to the forecasts of Polish specialists, the acreage of apple orchards can be significantly extended in the coming years due to the good exporting demand for apples. Some forecasts speak about the twofold apple production increase up to 4 mln. tons. However, such prognoses seem to be far from the reality at the present moment.

To the opinion of the analysts of Agricultural Marketing Project, Ukraine will actively build up the production of apples, pears, peaches, nectarine, table grape, strawberry, blueberry, raspberry and other berries in the coming years thanks to the perfect conditions for fruit growing and marketing. Large Russian companies are also starting to actively invest the establishment of the modern intensive orchards. This fact will lead to the improvement of competition for apples and other fruits on the Eastern European market; Polish producers will have to look for new exporting opportunities among the EU countries.