May 14 2007, 11:20

Will Ukraine be able to export strawberry to Poland this year, for the first time in the history?

Large-scale losses of early strawberry in Poland as a result of early May frosts led to the significantly increased forecast for the wholesale prices. To the experts' opinion, the prices for early strawberry will be extremely high, not less than $2-3/kg.

In the whole, 25-40% of early and late strawberry are forecasted to be lost throughout the country. The strawberry production will hardly exceed 130-135 thousands of tons. Even the forecasted prices for commercial strawberry are $ 1.2-1.4/kg - this level is thrice as high than usually.

Also, according to the forecasts of ""Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" journal", the prices for strawberry will be lower this season in Ukraine comparing to the previous years. Early strawberry from Crimea, Kherson and Odesa has been already actively sold on Ukrainian markets. Considering the price forecasts in Ukraine and Poland, the price difference may be enough to export this berry (the import tariff rate of 12.8% and not less than $0.03/kg won't be an obstacle).

However, to the opinion of the specialists of "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits", the strawberry export to Poland will hardly come into reality this season, as Poland is one of the largest strawberry suppliers in Europe. This statement can be explained by lack of exporting experience for these perishable berries, a relatively few number of large strawberry growers in Ukraine able to supply a wholesale shipment of this crop. And, despite of the expected significant decrease of strawberry production in Poland, this country will be able to harvest 2.5-3 times as larger harvest of strawberry than Ukraine.