This is the second part of the analytical material by the EastFruit team on the most important events in the produce market in 2021 that will influence further developments in the sector. You can read the first part of the material here.

6. Very expensive Ukrainian borsch – table beets, onions, carrots and cabbage

Never before have vegetables of a “borsch set” in been as expensive as in 2021. However, there were various reasons. It is better to break the analysis into seasons, as each was very different.

To detail all the events in the market for vegetables of the “borsch set” in 2021, we would have to write several huge analytical articles. So, we will summarize them and list the key factors that led to such high prices in the market.

The situation on the Russian market has become one of the key factors influencing the Ukrainian market. Ukraine cannot directly export food products to the Russian market, but it still affects the situation in Ukraine. The forecasts we made when discussing the crisis in Russian vegetable growing 2 years ago in the article “Crisis of vegetable farming in Russia” came true in 2021. Supply and demand in the Russian market led to such a sharp increase in table beet and carrot prices that they became the cause of memes on social networks.

Naturally, Russian importers and supermarkets tried to eliminate the shortage of products by all possible means, which led to price increases in all countries supplying vegetables to Russia. One of them was Belarus, that filled its own shortage of vegetables by imports from both the EU and Ukraine. This resulted into prices for these goods in Ukraine reaching very high levels.

This allowed both growers and resellers, who bought beets during the autumn harvest, to make very good money on their resale in spring. However, Ukrainian vegetable growers did not increase the area of beet plantations, but kept reducing it. Therefore, many market participants had an idea to hit the beet jackpot in the 2021/22 season. There is still a chance they can do it.

The developments on the cabbage market were similar. In the new season, Russia faced an acute shortage of cabbage, provoking its price increase in all countries of the region, including Ukraine. As a result, wholesale prices for cabbage in Ukraine in mid-December 2021 exceeded last year’s levels by 5-6 times and were a record for this month. Thus, the imports of cabbage from Poland started, but the exports to Belarus (and to Russia) did not stop either.

The only question is, what will be cabbage prices in Ukraine in spring, and where will Ukrainian importers buy cabbage? It is not excluded that cabbage will have to be imported from Uzbekistan in March, where its prices are also record high, but a new harvest is to start in March.

Speaking about Uzbekistan, we can move on to the most sold position of the “borsch set” – onions. Ukraine faced severe price swings here, too.

The year started with record low prices for onions in Ukraine. The export of onions was record-breaking, but it did not please vegetable growers, as it did not help to raise the price level. We advise you to study this analytical article, where the reasons for such price swings were explained in great detail.

One of the most resonant EastFruit news about the onion market in 2021 was the message that the first wholesale lots of Uzbek onions arrived at the wholesale markets of Ukraine, when the last onions were still being harvested in Ukraine. Onion prices are usually very low during this time, but this year the imports started early.

Moreover, Russia had nothing to do with the import of onions to Ukraine after the record exports. Fruit-Inform analysts explain this with several reasons. The first is the extremely low onion prices in recent seasons, which forced the least efficient vegetable growers to stop growing onions. Secondly, the weather was unfavorable during the harvesting of onions in 2021. Therefore, a lot of onions with high humidity were laid in storages, and there are very few modern onion drying and processing technologies in Ukraine. Consumers needed high-quality onions, the deficit of which was discovered in autumn.

Therefore, wholesale prices for onions in Ukraine were almost 3 times higher by the end of 2021 than in 2020 and almost 1.5 times higher than in 2019.

Among the reasons for the record high prices for vegetables of borsch set in Ukraine, experts noted a sharp rise in prices for grains in the past two seasons, which made their production almost as profitable for small farmers as growing vegetables. Nevertheless, the level of market and loss risks in the grain sector was much lower than in the vegetable sector. This has led to a reduction in vegetable acreage in favor of grain acreage in 2021.

7.  Upcoming changes in produce retail business

There were unusually many events in Ukrainian fruit and vegetable retail in 2021. Perhaps the main one was the rumor about the entry of the German retail chain Lidl into the Ukrainian market.

Despite the information not being official yet, EastFruit experts analyzed how this will affect the trade in fruits and vegetables in Ukraine, if the discounter opens its stores in Ukraine. We consider this quite likely to happen. Our analytics on the issue was widely discussed among owners and top managers of supermarket chains in Ukraine.

A great event of the year was another confirmation of the high objectivity of the audits of the produce departments by EastFruit – our audits again managed to foresee the fate of the whole retail business. As in the case of the purchase of the Ukrainian Billa chain by Novus, we expected the exit from the retail business of the Furshet chain through the purchase by Silpo. The possible purchase of the Ekomarket supermarket chain, constantly occupying very low positions in our audits, by the owners of the Silpo chain was reported at the end of the year.

Silpo firing the management team of the chain’s fruit and vegetable departments became top news in 2021. Obviously, the chain is striving to improve its position in the segment, especially if it is going to expand further by purchasing weaker competitors.

An extraordinary event was the first international fruit and vegetable retail forum by the EastFruit team, APK-Inform: vegetables and fruits and UHA. The results of a unique study of the retail trade in fruits and vegetables by FAO and EBRD experts was presented there. In addition, the best supermarket chains in the produce trade in 2021 were identified and awarded in various nominations.

The winner in the main nomination “Leader of fruit and vegetable retail in Ukraine” (in terms of assortment, product quality, convenience and quality of departments and price level) was the supermarket chain “Auchan”. It also became the leader in the “Assortment of Vegetables and Fruits” nomination. The winner of the “Freshness and quality of vegetables and fruits” category was Metro, and of the “Prices for vegetables and fruits” category – ATB. The ATB chain also became the absolute favorite among the suppliers of vegetables and fruits according to the results of their survey. According to consumers, LeSilpo was recognized as the best chain.

8. Land market opening in Ukraine

Although the limited opportunity to buy and sell land plots which opened up in the midyear is still one of the most discussed topics in the fruit and vegetable community, it had minor impact on the market.

But the long-term impact of this event on the market will be huge. First of all, many investors will focus on buying out land in the next few years, which will somewhat reduce the investments in growing vegetables and fruits.

On the other hand, most farmers will now be more confident in investing money in land and infrastructure, knowing that this land belongs to them.

However, investments in the purchase of agricultural land for growing vegetables and fruits in Ukraine will be relatively low in relation to those made for plantation and providing infrastructure.

For example, you need to invest about $100 000 in one hectare of an intensive apple orchard, including seedlings, irrigation, apple storage, protection from hail, sorting, etc. One hectare of land is now being sold at $1 000-2 000. This means that this is only 1-2% of investments in production.

9. Record prices for greenhouse cucumbers in Ukraine and imports from Russia

It seemed at the beginning of 2021 that the greenhouse industry of Ukraine was starting to recover and the export of greenhouse vegetables began to grow. However, the incredibly high level of gas prices in the second half of 2021 canceled all these achievements and put the Ukrainian greenhouse industry on the brink of survival. Similar was observed in many European countries.

The worst fears about the prices of greenhouse vegetables have not yet been fully justified. It is partly due to Turkey experiencing a collapse in the lira exchange rate, which spurred exports at highly competitive prices. Nevertheless, the prices did renew the records, and primarily, this concerned cucumber prices.

The last crop cycle of greenhouse cucumbers in Ukrainian farms was distinguished by record high prices, at least over the past 4 years. Many greenhouse plants have relied on growing tomatoes in the second half of 2021. As a result, the area planted with cucumbers in greenhouses was reduced. In addition, the weather was unfavorable during the growing season. The combination of the above factors led to an insufficient supply of cucumber on the Ukrainian market, and sellers often increased prices for the available volumes.

Thus, the news that Ukraine imported greenhouse cucumbers from Russia for the first time became a sensation. According to trade sources, Russian cucumbers proved to be competitive in price with the Ukrainian ones, despite the 10% import duty due to Ukraine’s withdrawal from the free trade agreement with Russia. By the way, Russia exported its greenhouse cucumbers even to Poland!

However, this did not last long, and soon problems with the supply of cucumbers occurred on the Russian market itself. Therefore, cucumber prices set new records in the second half of December in Russia and exceeded those in other countries of the region.

Russian cucumbers contributed to the stabilization of prices on the Ukrainian market, and they fell back to $1.30/kg. But when the supplies stopped, greenhouse cucumbers began to rise in price again and they were sold at no less than $1.70/kg in the second decade of December 2021 in Ukraine.

10. Failures in the cherry and watermelon markets

Watermelon was one of the main export positions of the Ukrainian produce sector in 2020, when the exports record was set. Ukraine set two new exports record in 2021: the export of watermelons was record low, as were their prices. We analyzed this in more detail in the article “Watermelon Collapse in Ukraine”. As a result, many producers failed to sell watermelon even at the lowest price, and had to leave the watermelon on fields, although the season began with early watermelon being sold at record high prices!

Will this lead to a decrease in the area of watermelon plantations for 2022 harvest? The question is rhetorical.

The situation on the Ukrainian cherry market was just the same. There were record low prices and an anti-record of exports in recent years, despite an unusually high harvest.

The domestic market in Ukraine was oversaturated with cheap cherries from the very beginning of the cherry sales season, but the purchasing activity remained rather low. And it reflected the consumer perception of the quality of Ukrainian cherries, because Ukraine updated the record for cherry imports in 2021, almost doubling it compared to 2020!

Ukrainian cherry growers blamed everyone for their problems: the lack of exports opportunities to Russia, the country’s population decline, and even the COVID-19 pandemic. However, all these arguments break down on the fact that the Ukrainians preferred imported cherries because, like consumers in other countries of the world, they want high-quality cherries. And if consumers’ requirements for the quality of cherries are constantly growing, Ukrainian growers also need to grow.

In this article, we explained why cherries in Ukraine are not that cheap and why access to the Russian market would not have saved Ukrainian farmers from low prices for cherries. Here we showed that the global market for cherries is growing faster than their production, and prices are constantly increasing, as well. In other words, there is a shortage of cherries in the world! To be more precise, there is a shortage of high-quality cherries in the world, and this is the problem in Ukraine!

Cherries in Ukraine are mainly grown without irrigation, not to mention protection from rain, hail and frost. By the way, here is an example of how some leading producers are already growing cherries in Uzbekistan. And here you can read about the most effective frost protection systems for cherries and other fruits. Besides, more and more cherry growers in different countries start growing in greenhouses.

Therefore, if the approaches to the production, cooling and processing of cherries are not radically changed, Ukraine will not only reduce exports, but will continue to increase imports of cherries.

If we missed some of the important trends, please let us know in the comments section.

Сообщение Ukraine: TOP-10 events in the Ukrainian produce business in 2021 (part II) появились сначала на EastFruit.

According to EastFruit analysts, Russia imported a record volume of watermelon in 2021. Moreover, Russia is likely to enter the top ten largest importers of watermelon in the world at the end of 2021 for the first time, and the volume of imports may exceed 80 thousand tonnes.

Russia has traditionally been among the 20 largest global exporters of watermelon. At the same time, the exports of watermelon from Russia usually exceeded imports. However, it became a net importer of watermelon last year after a sharp increase in imports, and in 2021 imports grew by more than 60% over the year, updating an all-time record.

Notably, the exports of watermelon in 2021 grew, although less sharply than imports – by only 17%. The largest growth was noted in the exports of watermelon from Russia to Belarus, Georgia and Moldova.

There were many surprises in the geography of watermelon supplies to Russia. The main one was the strengthening of Iran’s position as the main supplier. Iran has increased the supply of watermelons 2.5 times to more than 30 thousand tonnes. Uzbekistan also increased the exports of watermelon to Russia, but by only 19%, remaining second among the largest suppliers. Turkey has almost caught up with Iran in terms of supplies, increasing exports by 2.7 times. Kazakhstan remained fourth in the ranking of watermelon exporters to Russia, increasing supplies by 7% to 12.7 thousand tonnes.

Another interesting point was the sharp increase in the imports of watermelon to Russia from Georgia. Previously Georgia did not supply watermelon to Russia at all, but the volume of supplies in 2021 increased immediately to 1.1 thousand tonnes. Thus, watermelon was added to the range of other fruits and vegetables that Georgia now supplies to Russia in large volumes.

However, the exports of watermelon from Russia to Georgia is almost equal to the export volume of watermelon from Georgia to Russia. Why? The main reason is that the seasons of watermelon harvesting in Russia and Georgia do not overlap. Therefore, early watermelon is exported from Georgia to Russia, and late varieties – from Russia to Georgia.

Сообщение Watermelon imports to Russia in 2021 were record-breaking due to supplies from Iran появились сначала на EastFruit.

From the beginning of January to the end of October 2021, the volume of fresh watermelon exports from Uzbekistan in physical terms amounted to 43.6 thousand tonnes, which is 11% less than in the same period in 2020. Since the exports season for Uzbek watermelon has already ended, this volume will be close to the final for 2021.

However, despite a slight decrease in the export of watermelon in 2021, it was abnormally high for the second year in a row, namely 14 times higher than the average annual export in 2017-2019. EastFruit analysts figured out whether the export growth in 2020-2021 was accidental, or it was the beginning of a trend and new opportunities for increasing the country’s exports in the fruit and vegetable segment.

Let’s analyze the geography of watermelon exports before and after the sharp increase in volumes. It turns out that the main importing countries in 2020-2021 and their share in supplies have changed significantly, as can be seen from the two diagrams below.

Before the sharp increase in exports, Tajikistan was the main buyer of watermelons from Uzbekistan. More than a third of all products were supplied there. Three countries: Tajikistan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan accounted for 77% of all watermelon exports.

However, the situation has changed significantly in 2020-2021. The share of Kazakhstan in supplies rose to 55%, and of Russia – up to 33%. Thus, more than 88% of all watermelon exports of Uzbekistan accounted for two countries, one of which was not previously among the main sales markets!

It is even more interesting to look at the changes in the volume of supplies that may help us find out whether the growth of Uzbek exports was accidental or temporary.

In terms of growth in supply volumes, attention is drawn to, first of all, two countries – Kazakhstan and Russia. In 2021, 36 thousand tonnes of watermelon more were exported to these two countries than in 2019. In 2020, their share in the Uzbek exports of watermelon was even higher. We need to understand why the demand for Uzbek watermelon in these countries has dramatically increased to assume whether they will buy watermelon in Uzbekistan in 2022.

By the way, we cannot discount Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Moldova that also increased purchases.

Let’s look at the statistics of international trade in watermelons of the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan. It turns out that both countries sharply increased the volume of watermelon imports in 2020 and 2021. Russia, which was itself a major exporter of watermelon until 2020, sharply reduced its exports and increased imports.

Given the different ripening periods of watermelon in Uzbekistan, as well as in the key importing countries, Russia and Kazakhstan, it seems that the demand for the earlier watermelon has increased there. Traditionally, Russian consumers preferred to buy watermelon no earlier than August, because of fears of the high nitrate content in early watermelons, and their low taste.

However, the situation has recently started to change, in our opinion, partly due to the supply of watermelon from Uzbekistan. Uzbek watermelons ripen much earlier and have a high sugar content, which could not but be noted by Russian and Kazakh consumers. In 2021, Uzbekistan exported more than 2.4 thousand tonnes of watermelon in May, and more than 40 thousand tonnes in June-July!

It can be concluded that the sharp increase in watermelon exports from Uzbekistan is most likely not an accident, but a new market opportunity. It is no accident that watermelon has become one of the country’s key export positions in the summer, along with cherries and apricots, over the past two years. It should still be borne in mind that in order to further expand watermelon exports and their geography, Uzbek producers should also pay attention to trend seedless varieties of watermelon of smaller size.

Сообщение Sharp increase in watermelon exports from Uzbekistan in recent years – an accident or a new trend? появились сначала на EastFruit.

EastFruit analysts continue analyzing the recently ended watermelon season, which has become one of the most unexpected for Ukraine and Europe. As international trade data become available, we get even more shocking figures of losses of watermelon growers in Ukraine in 2021.

The prices for watermelon in Ukraine started from rather high levels at the very beginning of the season, but quite unexpectedly for most market participants they fell to almost zero, when fields full of watermelons in the southern regions were offered for free, provided harvesting costs covered. The watermelon collapse in Ukraine was accompanied by the absence of demand in the global market.

This is confirmed by the data on product exports. As of the end of August 2021, only 5.5 thousand tonnes of watermelons were exported from Ukraine – 4 times less than on the same date in 2020 and less than ever before! Recall that watermelons could be bought very cheap in Ukraine at that time, but they could not be exported even at the lowest prices, as prices were extremely low in Poland, the main market for Ukrainian watermelon. Until the beginning of October 2021, prices for watermelon in Poland remained at a level that did not even cover the costs of its exports from Ukraine, and were on average 2 times lower than in 2020.

However, given low prices, the volume of watermelon imports to Ukraine became even more unexpected! It turns out that Ukrainian traders managed to import a record amount of watermelon before the price collapse began. More than 10 thousand tonnes of watermelon were imported to Ukraine in the summer months – 5 times more than in 2020, 17 times more than in 2019 and 50 times more than in 2018! The main volume (44%) was exported from Turkey. Large batches were also delivered by Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Greece. In addition to Uzbekistan that reduced the supply of watermelon to Ukraine by 38% other exporters significantly increased their export volumes.

Read also: Uzbekistan exported record volumes of cherries and watermelons to Belarus in 2021

It is possible that the volume of watermelon exports from Ukraine will grow sharply in September, although they usually begin to decline in September. However, as we said, the market was unusual in 2021. Prices on the European market in the second half of September began to grow slightly, so the demand for Ukrainian watermelon should have somewhat recovered. Nevertheless, it is obvious that watermelon exports from Ukraine will be record low in 2021, despite very low prices. As for the revenue of exporters, a catastrophic decrease is expected here.

Will this lead to a reduction in the area planted with watermelons in 2022, and, as a result, another sharp rise in their prices? This is usually the case, as small growers often switch to other crops after unsuccessful seasons.

Сообщение Despite the collapse in prices, Ukraine has reduced exports and sharply increased imports of watermelons появились сначала на EastFruit.

In January-August 2021, Uzbekistan exported 69.7 thousand tons of melons and watermelons worth $19.3 million, Dunyo news agency reported.

According to the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Statistics, in total melons and watermelons were exported to the markets of 20 countries this year. The volume of exports compared to the same period last year decreased by 9.5 thousand tons.

Top-5 countries importing Uzbek melons and watermelons were Kazakhstan (29.2 thousand tons), Russia (19.2 thousand tons), Kyrgyzstan (10.2 thousand tons), Ukraine (4.9 thousand tons), Latvia (2.3 thousand tons). In addition, they were purchased by Belarus (1.3 thousand tons), Tajikistan (960.8 tons) and Germany (939.4 tons).

Earlier EastFruit reported that Uzbekistan supplied record volumes of cherries and watermelons to the Belarusian market in 2021.

The export volume of Uzbek cherries to Belarus in the 2021 season increased 7.5 times compared to 2020 and reached 633 tons. The export of watermelon reached almost 1 thousand tons and grew even more – 9 times per year! The export volumes of both cherries and watermelons from Uzbekistan to Belarus were record-breaking.

Сообщение Uzbekistan reduced the exports of melons and watermelons by 9.5 thousand tons появились сначала на EastFruit.

According to EastFruit analysts, Uzbekistan exported record volumes of cherries and watermelons to the Belarusian market in 2021.

The volume of supplies of Uzbek cherries to Belarus in the 2021 export season increased 7.5 times compared to 2020 and reached 633 tons. The export of watermelon reached almost 1,000 tons and grew even more – 9 times in a year! The export volumes of both cherries and watermelons from Uzbekistan to Belarus were record high.

Earlier, Uzbekistan focused more on exports to Russia, and Belarus bought cherries from Turkey, Greece, Ukraine and other countries closer than Uzbekistan. Belarus usually bought early watermelons from Kazakhstan and Turkey. This year, the same countries also supplied large volumes of early watermelons to Belarus. Obviously, the total volume of their consumption increased, because exports of watermelon from Uzbekistan and even from Spain and Georgia increased.

It is very important for Uzbekistan to diversify the markets for cherries, because prices for Uzbek cherries literally collapsed at the end of the season. This is due to the fact that the traditional technology of growing and processing cherries is not effective and reduces the export opportunities for this trendy fruit. Modern technologies that allow to ha harvest large export-quality cherries are still rare.

However, the export volume of both cherries and watermelons to Belarus are not large for Uzbekistan, when compared to the volumes supplied to Russia. Nevertheless, market diversification is a positive trend.

Сообщение Uzbekistan exported record volumes of cherries and watermelons to Belarus in 2021 появились сначала на EastFruit.

According to EastFruit analysts, in 2021 Russia will be definitely setting a new record for watermelon imports. With several months still left till the end of the year, the record has already been set – as of the end of July 2021, imports of watermelon in Russia reached 46 thousand tons, while in 2020, in total, 38,3 thousand tons of watermelon were imported.

Thus, according to our estimates, by the end of 2021, imports of fresh watermelon to Russia may exceed 70 thousand tons for the first time, and the import volume will grow by about 80% compared to 2020’s record imports.

In certain circumstances, the imports of watermelons to the Russian Federation may even double. in 2021, watermelon prices across Europe were unusually low. Even if Russia could not directly import watermelons from Ukraine where farmers were ready to give them from the field for free, imports from Central Asia, where prices during the peak export in June-July, were also the lowest in recent years.

In particular, the average wholesale price for watermelons in Uzbekistan in June-July ranged from $0.06 to $0.08 per kg. Watermelons were sold only $0.01-0.02 per kg more expensive in Tajikistan. For the first time, Georgia was among the large suppliers of fresh watermelon to Russia, where prices for watermelon were slightly higher than in Central Asia – about $0.10-0.12 per kg. However, transport from Georgia to Russia was much cheaper, which gave Georgian suppliers an advantage.

In Russia, watermelon prices during peak season in 2021 were at the average level for recent years. By the end of the season, they began to decline sharply because of the growing supply. This was also influenced to a certain extent by the later start of the season, which led to a sharp increase in the supply of watermelons on the market in late August-early September 2021.

As you see, supplies of watermelons to Russia from Central Asia and Georgia in June-July were possible due to the high price in Russia and low prices in the exporting countries. That is why watermelon was the key item for Uzbek fruit and vegetable exports in June. In July, Uzbekistan increased the volume of watermelon exports to Russia almost fourfold to record 11.2 thousand tons.

As for Turkey, it used a different window of opportunity for watermelon exports to Russia, starting earlier than Uzbekistan. In May, Turkey already exported more than 1.3 thousand tons of watermelon to the Russian Federation and reached a peak export of 9.7 thousand tons in June, which was also a record for the supply of watermelons from Turkey to Russia. The supply of watermelons to Russia from Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan and North Macedonia was also higher, while China, on the contrary, reduced exports.

Naturally, the exports of watermelon from Russia during the same period decreased, if you do not take into account the supply to the temporarly occupied territories of Ukraine. Exports decreased, primarily to the EU countries, such as Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. The unusual low prices in Ukraine has led to the almost complete ousting of Russian exporters by Ukrainian ones from the Belarusian market for the first time in the last 11 years. Nevertheless, Russia managed to double the exports of watermelon to Mongolia to more than 1,000 tons.

Сообщение Russia sharply increased imports of watermelon from Uzbekistan and Turkey, setting a new record появились сначала на EastFruit.

September keeps breaking anti-records for Ukrainian producers of watermelons – according to EastFruit analysts, the prices remain at one of the lowest levels among other countries monitored by the project as it was a month ago. Although the end of last week showed a slight upward price trend for Ukrainian watermelons – the average wholesale price increased from 0.8 UAH/kg ($ 0.03) at the beginning of the previous week to 1 UAH/kg ($ 0.038), this price range is two times lower than in the same period of 2019 and 2020.

In this context, the average price of watermelons on the Russian market has remained stable for 2 weeks and amounts to 10 RUB/kg ($ 0.14). The situation is similar in Belarus – the average wholesale price of watermelons is in the range of 0.65 BYN/kg ($ 0.26). The price on the Georgian market, on the contrary, increased from 0.4 GEL/kg ($ 0.13) to 0.7 GEL/kg ($ 0.23).

As EastFruit reported, Ukrainian watermelon market is now characterized by the lowest prices over the past four seasons given a large harvest, despite poor weather conditions in spring and early summer in the main producing region – Kherson region.

At the same time, local growers note that today they cannot sell their products in wholesale even at 0.3-0.5 UAH/kg ($ 0.011-0.019) – half the cost of watermelon production.

A producer from the Kherson region Mykola Moiseenko notes that he has invested about 300,000 UAH ($ 11,275) in the field of watermelons this year. At the same time, the proceeds from the sale of Talisman watermelons amounted to only 100,000 UAH ($ 3,758).

“Of the 6 hectares planted by us in spring, we have managed to sell products only from ​​3.5 hectares, even though the melon season in Ukraine has shifted by about 3 weeks due to the cold spring and early summer. We are ready to give the rest of the harvest from the field for free, but we have not found yet people to take it, “the producer notes, adding that most likely he will have to plow the field along with the remaining harvest on it during the autumn cultivation of the field.

Mykola Moiseenko also adds that watermelons are now starting to overripe, and there are many more sellers than buyers in local wholesale markets.

According to market players, as a rule, large farms sold all their harvest, as they had pre-signed contracts for supplies to retail chains.

“Based on this, small and medium-sized producers of watermelons in Ukraine should follow the example of large farms, namely cooperate to create batches and look for buyers even at the stage of planting,” a consultant to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Kateryna Zvereva says.

The FAO consultant adds that in order to find buyers, watermelon growers should do market research and invest in marketing. “Growing a product for which there is a long-term demand is the right strategy for a producer of fruits and vegetables. Otherwise, small and medium-sized producers are at a disadvantage with the goods they cannot sell,” Kateryna Zvereva notes.

According to Kateryna Zvereva, a producer of fruit and vegetables, in particular, watermelons, gives employment and pays many people – suppliers of seeds, technologies, plant protection products, workers in the fields, processors, retailers and traders. “But without systemic marketing and reliable sales channels, he becomes hostage to the situation – when he needs to pay employees, service providers, but there are no sales, or the price offered by the market does not cover the grower’s production costs,” the FAO consultant summarizes.

Сообщение Watermelon riot: Ukrainian growers are ready to leave the watermelon on the fields появились сначала на EastFruit.

According to EastFruit analysts, Ukrainian suppliers again dominate the Belarusian watermelon market this year, despite less favorable export conditions than in Russia.

“For the first time since 2010, Ukraine has become the main supplier of watermelon to Belarus, displacing Russia. This is especially remarkable given an increasing cost of watermelon logistics from Ukraine to Belarus, a higher VAT rate on fruits in Ukraine compared to that in Russia and additional packaging costs of 3 cents per kg, which corresponds to the watermelon cost in Ukraine. Nevertheless, Ukrainian Kherson watermelons are now more competitive on the Belarusian market than Astrakhan watermelons,” Fedir Rybalko, consultant to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) says.

According to EastFruit price monitoring data, the difference in wholesale watermelon prices on the markets of Belarus and Ukraine has reached $ 0.22-0.23 per kg, 7. 5 times higher than the cost of watermelons shipped from farms. Ultra-low prices for watermelon in Ukraine fueled demand for it.

Accordingly, the exports of Kherson watermelons to Belarus is becoming very significant, despite the growing cost of transport. Belarusian importers are also increasingly interested in purchasing watermelons from Ukraine.

Let us remind you that Belarus is completely dependent on the import of watermelons. Belarus imports about 30 thousand tons of watermelon annually.

Traditionally, watermelons were purchased in Ukraine. However, subsidized deliveries by rail and no customs duties within the EAEU helped Russia oust Ukraine from the Belarusian market in recent years and supply watermelons from more distant Astrakhan at a competitive price.

For the same reason, watermelons from Kazakhstan became available on the Belarusian market last year, both of Kazakh production and re-exported from Uzbekistan. Kazakhstan, in turn, has started pressing Russian exporters in the Belarusian market, but it didn’t manage to export more than 1,000 tons.

In 2019 Ukraine set an anti-record for the exports of watermelons to Belarus – only 379 tons – almost 50 times less than in 2010, when Belarus imported almost 18 thousand tons. At the same time, Ukraine was developing exports of watermelon to the EU countries and in 2020 exported more than 33 thousand tons of watermelons.

Many market participants believe that despite lower prices on the domestic market, Ukraine will not manage to increase watermelon exports in 2021. The reason is that prices in the EU are also significantly lower than last year, and the sales season of watermelons will be shorter by more than two weeks due to late start. However, the opportunity to export to the Belarusian market, which has existed for more than two weeks, could help stabilize producer prices in Ukraine and increase exports.

Additionally, watermelon prices on the Belarusian market have already begun to decline. The main reason is a sharp increase in exports from Ukraine.

Сообщение Ukraine ousted Russia from the Belarusian watermelon market for the first time in the last 11 years появились сначала на EastFruit.

EastFruit experts have noted the rise in prices for watermelon in Uzbekistan. Over the past two weeks, the average wholesale prices increased by 44%. At the same time, foreign markets do not affect the pricing in the domestic market, since the beginning of August there is practically no demand for watermelon from exporters.

From the first decade of July to mid-August 2021, the average wholesale prices for watermelon in the capital markets of Uzbekistan did not exceed 900 Sum/kg ($ 0.08 per kg). However, from August 12 to 26, the average wholesale prices ì increased from 900 Sum/kg ($ 0.08 per kg) to 1,300 Sum/kg ($ 0.12 per kg), i.e. by 44%.

For comparison, as of August 26, 2019, the average wholesale prices were 800 Sum/kg ($ 0.09). In other words, current prices are 62% higher in local currency and 33% higher in US dollars than on the same date in 2019.

Retail prices for watermelon in Moscow supermarkets and retail outlets for melons grew by a smaller amount – from 8 to 25%. The significant difference in the growth rates of wholesale and retail prices is most likely explained by the fact that in Uzbekistan, in most cases, watermelons are sold in retail by the piece. It is likely that mixing large, medium and small caliber in different combinations allows retailers to be less responsive to rising wholesale prices.

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It is noteworthy that the growth for watermelon occurs in the conditions of a practical absence of demand from exporters for it, i.e. in the absence of the influence of foreign markets. On August 12, 2021, EastFruit wrote about the end of the peak exports season of watermelon from Uzbekistan . According to the analysts, from the beginning of August to the current date, only a few hundred tons of watermelon were shipped from Uzbekistan to foreign markets, which is considered an insignificant volume. According to EastFruit experts , the increase in wholesale prices is associated with a decrease in supply in the domestic market at this time of the year.

Сообщение Watermelon prices in Uzbekistan increased 44% in just two weeks affecting exports появились сначала на EastFruit.