The season of strawberries in Ukraine began a few weeks ago, but strawberry growers are already forced to reduce prices, EastFruit project analysts report. So far, only some farms in the southern regions of the country have started harvesting in heated greenhouses.

At the same time, if the prices for the first batches of strawberries were at an average of 200 UAH/kg ($6.84/kg), today the growers were forced to reduce prices to 150-180 UAH/kg ($5.13-6 ,15/kg), which is on average 25% cheaper than a week earlier.

Producers believe that the downward price trend will only intensify in the near future, since relatively cheap strawberries grown in Greece and Spain are offered in sufficient volumes on the market at 120-150 UAH/kg ($4.10-5.13/kg). A rather low demand also has a negative impact on prices in this segment. At the same time, most producers of strawberries have problems with the sales due to hostilities in some regions of the country. Some consumers were also forced to leave the country.

We add that the main offer on the Ukrainian market today is greenhouse strawberries. According to growers’ forecasts, open field strawberries will go on sale in the end of May.

Сообщение Strawberries are getting cheaper in Ukraine появились сначала на EastFruit.

Most Ukrainian producers have announced the completion of sales of cabbage of the 2021 harvest, EastFruit project analysts say. Today the supply of last year’s cabbage on the market has significantly decreased, while the demand is quite high. Thus, farmers, who still have cabbage from the 2021 crop in their stocks, began to raise prices.

According to the project’s daily monitoring data, prices for last year’s cabbage in Ukrainian farms rose by an average of 19% over the week. Today, farmers sell it at 14-18 UAH/kg ($0.48-0.62/kg).

First of all, a significant reduction in the supply of cabbage on the market caused by the depletion of stocks in the farms allows producers to raise prices. At the same time, the demand has grown much this week, which also keeps prices up.

It should be noted that current prices for cabbage harvested in 2021 in Ukraine are already on average 2.8 times higher than last year.

Сообщение Prices for last year’s cabbage went up in Ukraine появились сначала на EastFruit.

Wholesale prices for greenhouse smooth long cucumbers in Uzbekistan have decreased by 1.9 times over the past two months. In addition, dynamics of their wholesale prices since the beginning of March 2022 has almost repeated that of 2021. If prices keep following this last year’s dynamics of the same period, wholesale prices for greenhouse smooth long cucumbers may decrease by 2 times from current levels, EastFruit analysts note.

According to EastFruit monitoring data, the maximum value of average wholesale prices for greenhouse smooth long cucumbers in 2022 was recorded on February 18 at the level of 19 000 UZS/kg ($1.75). As of April 22, 2022, they decreased to 10 000 UZS/kg ($0.88), i.e. by 47% or 1.9 times.

Read also: Strawberry prices have collapsed in Uzbekistan

Moreover, the dynamics of average wholesale prices in March-April 2022 repeats the dynamics observed in March-April 2021. The average wholesale price as of April 22, 2022 is at the same level as on April 22, 2021. This is due to the seasonal decline in prices for greenhouse cucumbers, which is characterized by a downward trend starting from the second decade of March and an acceleration in the rate of price decline from the end of March or from the beginning of April.

Provided that there are no weather anomalies in the next month and the price dynamics in April and May 2021 are repeated in the future, we can expect average wholesale prices for greenhouse smooth long cucumbers to fall to 5 000 UZS /kg in the next few weeks, i.e. 2 times compared to the current levels by mid-May 2022.

Сообщение In Uzbekistan cucumbers prices decreased by 50% in two months появились сначала на EastFruit.

Wholesale prices for strawberries in Uzbekistan have fallen 4.5 times over the past week, which was an unprecedented drop in prices in one week. According to EastFruit analysts, such a sharp drop in prices is due to the influence of the weather conditions that led to a collapse in strawberry prices in neighboring Tajikistan in the second decade of April 2022.

According to EastFruit price monitoring, from April 15 to April 22, 2022, the average wholesale prices for strawberries decreased from 90 000 to 20 000 UZS/kg ($7.94 to $1.77), i.e. by 4.5 times in just one week. If we consider the dynamics of wholesale prices in April, then the average wholesale prices have fallen by 5.5 times from the maximum value recorded on April 8, 2022 at the level of 110 000 UZS/kg ($9.68) over the past two weeks.

As of April 22, 2022, the average wholesale prices for strawberries are 3 times lower than on the same date in 2021 and correspond to the prices on the same date in 2020.

As of April 22, 2022, in retail sales – for example, in Korzinka.uz supermarkets in the capital of Uzbekistan, strawberries are offered at 27 990 UZS/kg ($2.48).

Literally ten days ago, wholesale prices for strawberries in neighboring Tajikistan collapsed in one day by 2 times (from $4 to $2), and a further rapid price decline was beyond doubt. As of April 22, the average wholesale price for strawberries fell to $0.88/kg.

“After an abnormally cold spring, a hot summer immediately set in. Accordingly, berries began to ripen very fast. In addition, strawberries need to be sold quickly so that they do not spoil at high temperatures, so farmers are forced to reduce prices,” Bakhtiyor Abduvokhidov, a consultant at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), commented at the time.

Since Uzbekistan experienced weather changes and air temperature dynamics similar to Tajikistan in April, after an abnormally rainy and cold March 2022, the collapse in strawberry prices in Uzbekistan is explained by the same factors, EastFruit analysts say.

Сообщение Strawberry prices have collapsed in Uzbekistan появились сначала на EastFruit.

In Ukraine, prices for last year’s white cabbage began to decline, EastFruit project analysts report. According to experts, the reason for the reduction was the decrease in trade and purchasing on the part of wholesale companies and retail chains. Also, pressure on prices for last year’s cabbage is exerted by a decrease in prices for early cabbage. At the same time, according to the project, the quality of cabbage on the Ukrainian market is in most cases low due to long-term storage.

In particular, on Friday 22 April Ukrainian producers offeedr last year’s white cabbage at 11-16 UAH/kg ($0.38-0.55/kg), which is 24% cheaper on average than in the previous week. According to project experts, the reason is a decrease in demand for last year’s cabbage from Ukrainian farms, caused by increased supply from Poland. Meanwhile, it should be noted that the price of last year’s imported cabbage on the Ukrainian market actually corresponds to the prices for cabbage from local farms.

Prices for last year’s cabbage in Ukraine are still at a fairly high level. For comparison: in the second half of April 2021, producers sold them on average 1.7 times cheaper than now.

Сообщение Last year’s white cabbage becomes cheaper in Ukraine появились сначала на EastFruit.

According to representatives of the Association of Potato Growers of Moldova, the first potatoes harvested from the fields under plastic film will go on sale around May 5-10, that is, in a time close to the average. The cool weather that settled in the second half of April will probably not slow down the ripening.

The association believes that, despite the multi-level crisis, there are good conditions for the sale of early potatoes this year. First, there will probably be relatively few of locally produced early potatoes this year. Farms in several southern and eastern regions of the country have been specializing in their cultivation for many years. According to expert estimates, the total area of ​​their fields in the best seasons was about 300-400 ha. However, it has been rapidly declining in the last two or three years due to competition with imported early potatoes, as well as due to a reorientation towards the production of late potatoes. By the way, the most pronounced increase in potato prices last season was in the winter and spring months of this year.

Secondly, local early potatoes will probably go on sale almost simultaneously with imported ones this year (sales of imported potatoes at the end of the last decade started earlier and at a higher price). In 2022, it is still cold in the regions of Romania, from which early expensive potatoes are exported for the Moldovan market.

Thirdly, early potatoes have become a niche, store product over the previous two years of the pandemic. Their price – presumably 20-25 MDL/kg ($1.08-1.36/kg) in the chain retail this year – will not contrast too much with the price of last year’s washed potatoes packed in nets or in casseroles and flowpack bags.

Сообщение Early potatoes will become available on the Moldovan market in the first decade of May появились сначала на EastFruit.

The exports of onion from Uzbekistan have grown sharply over the last three weeks

Over three weeks of April 2022, Uzbekistan exported 9 300 tonnes of onions, which is 6.6 times more than in three months – January-March. Kazakhstan became the main importer of Uzbek onions in three weeks of April, EastFruit experts report.

According to the Customs Committee of Uzbekistan, the volume of onion exports by months in 2022 is as follows: January – 640 tonnes, February – 536 tonnes, March – 243 tonnes, and 1-20 April – 9 328 tonnes. Moreover, onion exports from Uzbekistan in 20 days of April 2022 were twice higher than the exports in the same period last year.

Read also: Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan dramatically increased apple imports from Iran in 2022

The main buyer of Uzbek onions in three weeks of April 2022 was Kazakhstan, which accounts for 96-97% of total exports. The rest is distributed between two importers – Russia (2-3%) and Kyrgyzstan (less than 1%).

According to market participants, mostly onions of last year’s harvest were exported over the past period of April 2022. Despite the fact that wholesale lots of onions of the new crop became available on the markets of Uzbekistan in early April, onions of export quality were not available on the domestic market. Onion producers in the southernmost regions of Uzbekistan have begun to form large batches of a new crop for export only in mid-April.

Сообщение The exports of onion from Uzbekistan have grown sharply over the last three weeks появились сначала на EastFruit.

According to EastFruit analysts, two Central Asian countries, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, have increased their imports of Iranian apples many times over in the first 4 months of 2022.

Turkmenistan entered the Top-5 largest importers of Iranian apples in the world during this period, having purchased 19 500 tonnes of apples in Iran. For comparison, imports in the same period last year were 22 times less. Uzbekistan ranked 6^th among apple importers from Iran having imported 13 000 tonnes of apples in 4 months, which is 21 times more than in the same period in 2021.

Read also: Uzbekistan became the fastest growing market for fruits and vegetables from Iran in 2021

“The volume of apple exports from Iran in the first months of 2022 lags behind last year by about 19%, which is due to a decrease in the apple harvest in the country in 2021 caused by spring frosts. However, exports to Central Asian countries, where there were also frosts and reduced harvest, rose sharply as prices were high there. An additional incentive for the growth of supplies was the cessation of apple exports from Ukraine at the end of February, after russia invaded Ukraine with its army and blocked supplies,” explains Andriy Yarmak, economist at the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

In addition to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, importers from the UAE (by 42%), Pakistan (by 75%) and Kuwait (by 73%) also increased the volume of purchases of Iranian apples in 2022. A decrease in apple exports from Iran to such large markets as Iraq, India and Russia was noted.

Сообщение Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan significantly increased apple imports from Iran in 2022 появились сначала на EastFruit.

Prices for early cabbage in Ukraine have dropped sharply this week, EastFruit project analysts report. The reason for the negative price trends in the segment of new crop cabbage was the seasonal increase in its supply on the market, as well as rather low demand.

Thus, the first batches of cabbage harvested in 2022 became available on the market 2 weeks ago, and then the prices were in the range of 35-40 UAH/kg ($1.20-1.37/kg). Today, Ukrainian growers sell early cabbage in the range of 20-27 UAH/kg ($0.68-0.92/kg), which is on average 37% cheaper than the first batches.

It should be noted that the current price of early cabbage in Ukraine is already on average 10% lower than in the same period last year. At the same time, many key players expect further price reductions in the new crop cabbage segment. They argue their opinion by the fact that the majority of Ukrainian growers are currently experiencing difficulties with selling their products due to the disruption in the supply chains in most of the country.

Сообщение In Ukraine, the prices of early cabbage have collapsed появились сначала на EastFruit.

The season of local greenhouse strawberries started at the end of last week at the fruit and berry market of Moldova. The first offers of berries appeared in social networks and groups of communication services. The price is exactly the one representatives of the Pomușoarele Moldovei Berry Producers Association forecasted a month ago – 100-120 MDL/kg ($5.42-6.50/kg), subject to purchasing at least 3 kg, targeted delivery.

The availability of strawberries in the pre-Easter week is a good sign, since the association expressed doubt in mid-March that the sales of Moldovan strawberries grown in greenhouses of various types and on fields covered with agril would start in April. Indeed, many berry farmers note that at the end of the second decade of the month, strawberries even in sheltered plantations are still far from ripe. Strawberries from greenhouses are offered by very few farms now.

Apparently, it will be difficult for them to sell even a small volume at the stated price. It contrasts very much with the current price level for imported Turkish and Greek strawberries. Their wholesale price fell from 80 MDL/kg ($4.34/kg) to 50 MDL/kg ($2.72/kg) in less than three weeks of April. In the retail markets of Chisinau, they are sold at 55-65 MDL/kg ($2.99-3.54/kg), in supermarkets – up to 70 MDL/kg ($3.81/kg). By the way, this is the “bazaar” price for high-quality imported cucumbers, caliber 6-9 cm.

Offers to sell the first Moldovan strawberries in social networks have provoked hundreds of responses, mostly negative. Most of the commentators said that they would not pay for the “unique taste” of local greenhouse berries twice as much as for imported strawberries “with the taste of cucumber or beets.”

Сообщение The first Moldovan greenhouse strawberries are two times more expensive than the imported ones появились сначала на EastFruit.