Round red greenhouse tomatoes in Ukraine have significantly increased in price over the past week, EastFruit project analysts report. At the end of the last week wholesale prices for greenhouse tomatoes were in the range of 50-70 UAH/kg ($1.71-2.39/kg), but the price range increased to 60-80 UAH/kg ($2. 05-2.73/kg) by the end of the current week. Meanwhile, increasingly often sellers in the largest wholesale markets in various regions of Ukraine set selling prices for small wholesale lots of tomatoes no cheaper than 90 UAH/kg ($3.07/kg).

Traditionally, the main supply on the Ukrainian market at this time of the year is tomatoes imported from Turkey, while at least 1 month remains before the start of a new crop rotation in local greenhouse complexes. There are no problems with the current crop of tomatoes in Turkey, but their prices in Ukraine continue to grow.

Despite the partial migration of the Ukrainian population to European countries, the reduction of consumers in the country’s territories occupied by russian troops, and the fact that tomatoes are not a primary necessity, prices in the segment keep rising.

First of all, the increase in prices in the tomato segment was influenced by the many times more expensive internal logistics in Ukraine. Also, it is physically impossible to deliver imported tomatoes, as well as other products, to some of the main consumption centers in the country due to active hostilities and partial temporary occupation of some regions of Ukraine by russian troops. The gradual devaluation of the hryvnia also cannot but affect the final prices of imported products.

According to the project specialists, prices for greenhouse tomatoes in Ukraine may stabilize in the near future, as a further rise in the price of a non-strategically important product will lead to a complete halt in sales. And as mentioned above, a new turnover in Ukrainian greenhouses at the end of April -beginning of May will be able to release the pressure in the greenhouse tomato market, but only if they are not located in the zone of active hostilities or in the territories occupied by russian troops.

Сообщение Prices for imported tomatoes are rapidly increasing in Ukraine появились сначала на EastFruit.

The supply of greenhouse tomatoes on the Russian market has sharply declined this week, EastFruit project analysts report. Most Russian greenhouse companies have reported their plans to start selling tomatoes of the new cycle at the end of March. At the same time, producers that are still selling tomatoes shipped them to the market in minimal volumes.

Note that the supply of imported tomatoes has also decreased this week. First of all, this was due to the termination of their imports from Turkey due to adverse weather conditions. The Russian market was mainly represented by imported tomatoes from Azerbaijan. However, there were not enough of them to meet the high demand in this segment during the week.

All of the above factors have allowed Russian producers to increase prices for local greenhouse tomatoes. Today, they are sold at 150-210 RUB/kg ($2-2.80/kg), which is on average 12% more expensive than at the end of the last work week. Imported tomatoes produced in Azerbaijan are noticeably cheaper, but their quality is below average. They are now sold at 115-175 RUB/kg ($1.53-2.33/kg).

To date, greenhouse tomatoes in the Russian Federation are already on average 17% more expensive than in the same period last year. At the same time, major market players agree that the price rise in the segment will continue at least until the end of the month. They explain this by the fact that local greenhouse complexes will not supply tomatoes of the new cycle until mid-spring, and imports cannot satisfy the current demand.

Сообщение The greenhouse tomatoes prices in Russia are increasing due to bad weather in Turkey появились сначала на EastFruit.

EastFruit analysts draw attention to the emerging downward trend in prices for greenhouse pink tomatoes in Uzbekistan of the past three weeks. According to EastFruit weekly monitoring, from January 21 to February 11, their average wholesale prices decreased from 17 000 UZS/kg ($1.6) to 12 000 UZS/kg ($1.1), i.e. by 29%.

Such price dynamics of the past three weeks has led to a narrowing of the gap between the average wholesale prices of the current and of the last year. The average wholesale prices for greenhouse pink tomatoes on January 21, 2022 were 127% higher than the average wholesale prices on the same date in 2021. But three weeks later, this gap was reduced by more than 2 times. As of February 11, 2022, the average wholesale prices for pink tomatoed are 50% higher than on the same date in 2021.

Notably, a totally different dynamics is observed in the wholesale prices for greenhouse red round tomatoes: after a 20% decrease from January 7 to January 14, 2022, wholesale prices again increased by 33% from January 21 to February 11, 2022.

We see on the graph that as a result of such multidirectional price dynamics in 2022, the price ratio for pink and red tomatoes has changed dramatically. If three weeks ago, on January 21, 2022, pink tomatoes were 42% more expensive than red round ones, then as of February 11, 2022, pink tomatoes became 20% cheaper than red round tomatoes.

Obviously, such dynamics is explained by a large increase in the supply of greenhouse pink tomatoes in the domestic market over the past three weeks, while the supply of red round tomatoes has decreased over this period.

In turn, the gap between the average wholesale prices of the current and last year for greenhouse red round tomatoes remains quite big. As of February 11, 2022, the average wholesale prices for red round tomatoes are more than 2 times higher than the prices on the same date in 2021.

Сообщение Pink tomato prices in Uzbekistan have fallen by almost 30% over the past three weeks появились сначала на EastFruit.

Ukrainian growers are forced to reduce prices for greenhouse tomatoes, despite their current season coming to an end, analysts of the EastFruit project report. The main reason for the reduction in the price of greenhouse tomatoes was the presence on the market of large volumes of substandard products.

Local greenhouses ship tomatoes at 20-27 UAH/kg ($0.77-1.04/kg) today, which is on average 18% cheaper than at the end of the last week.

It should be noted that the main offer on the Ukrainian market now is Turkish tomato, the exports of which to Ukraine started at the beginning of this month. Imported tomatoes are sold at 22-30 UAH/kg ($0.84-1.15/kg), which is on average 14% cheaper than at the month.

Read also: Ukrainian growers raise prices for table beets despite low demand

The prices for greenhouse tomatoes in Ukraine are on average 10% lower now than in the same period last year. The next cycle of local greenhouse tomatoes should start in February, but today this remains in question, since most of the representatives of greenhouse complexes have not yet decided whether they will grow tomatoes in the next cycle due to a sharp rise in energy prices.

We will discuss more details of the trade in greenhouse vegetables in Ukrainian supermarkets chains on December 2 at the first international conference “Retail Forum-2021”. Investments in fruit and vegetable production in greenhouses will be covered the next day, December 3, at the 17th International conference “Vegetables and fruits of Ukraine-2021. New investment opportunities”.

Сообщение Ukraine: prices for greenhouse tomatoes began to decline at the end of the season появились сначала на EastFruit.

Seasonally, Georgian red tomatoes are becoming more expensive since September. This is when the supply of locally produced tomatoes in the open field begins to decline, while the demand for Turkish imports and Georgian greenhouse tomatoes is slowly growing.

Things are a little different in 2021, as Georgia started importing early. This is a result of the low supply of local tomatoes, which is due to a decrease in production after low prices in 2020 and unfavorable weather in 2021. Turkish red tomatoes dominated the Georgian market last week and local ones were rarely seen in wholesale markets. The decline in the volume of Georgian tomatoes led to record high wholesale prices in October.

Source: EastFruit monitoring

Red round tomatoes in the Georgian wholesale markets are now sold at an average of $79 per 100 kg. This is 72% higher than the average price last year. Prices usually rise even more in the coming weeks, but the opinions of growers are mixed this year. The reasons for the drop in tomato prices from this high level may be due to cheap Turkish imports and an increased supply of produce from local greenhouses.

While imports are on the rise, the monthly average import prices for Turkish tomatoes have remained at $32 per 100 kg since July 2021. Whether such prices will remain in winter is questionable, given the rise in energy prices.

As for Georgian greenhouses, the supply will increase seasonally in the coming weeks. As more greenhouse tomatoes enter the market, this increased supply is likely to put pressure on average tomato prices. Moreover, some greenhouses have increased their production compared to 2020. The largest of them, the Georgian Greenhouse Corporation, producing under the Planta brand, will produce 30% more tomatoes this season. On the other hand, prices will largely depend on inflation of the local currency, which has already reached 12% and is expected to be high in the coming months.

Thus, the prices for tomatoes in Georgia are still at a high level. Where they will go next is unclear. The anticipated rise in the number of cases of COVID-19 makes the situation even more uncertain.

Сообщение Tomato prices in Georgia remain high. Will there be another increase? появились сначала на EastFruit.

According to EastFruit analysts, given a continuing decline in imports of greenhouse tomatoes to Russia in 2021, the aggressive expansion of Turkmenistan into this market became a sensation of the year.

In the first eight months of 2021, Turkmenistan has already exported 32 thousand tons of greenhouse tomatoes to Russia, which is almost twice (92%) as much as in the same period last year. This provided Turkmenistan with the 4th position in the ranking of the largest suppliers of greenhouse tomatoes to Russia. In terms of the supply volume, Turkmenistan almost caught up with Uzbekistan that also increased exports over the year, but not so significantly. Uzbek exports grew by 55% to 37.4 thousand tons. For comparison, imports from Turkey decreased by 2% during the same period.

It is time for Uzbekistan to start worrying about its greenhouses that, unlike in Turkmenistan, have problematic access to energy for heating in winter. We wrote about this in the article “Why is Uzbekistan killing their successful greenhouse industry?“. If Turkmenistan used to be a relatively small supplier and not a competitor to Uzbek greenhouses, Turkmen tomatoes are now actively competing with Uzbek ones in foreign markets.

“Considering the growth rate of supply volumes, as well as the situation with gas prices and gas supply to greenhouse plants in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, we do not exclude that Turkmenistan will overtake Uzbekistan in terms of supply of greenhouse tomatoes to Russia by the end of 2021. Suppliers from Turkmenistan will have a competitive advantage in the cost of energy, although given record high prices for greenhouse vegetables, the cost of their production is becoming less important. This means that if Turkmenistan has sufficient volumes, it will be able to diversify the export of greenhouse tomatoes, supplying them not only to Russia, but also to other countries of the region.” says Andriy Yarmak, economist at the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Notably, Turkmenistan almost doubled the exports of greenhouse tomatoes to Russia during the same period last year. Thus, Turkmenistan has increased their exports to Russia fourfold in just two years. It has already managed to bypass such countries on the Russian market as China, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Iran and Egypt in terms of export volumes. The share of tomatoes from Turkmenistan in Russian imports reached an impressive 10% for the first time in the first 8 months of 2021.

In addition, Kazakhstan increased purchases of Turkmen greenhouse tomatoes in 2021. Exports increased by 73% to 13 thousand tons in January-July this year. The first batches of Turkmen-produced greenhouse tomatoes were also exported to Ukraine and Belarus in 2021. By the way, Ukraine can turn out to be a promising sales market for greenhouse tomatoes from Turkmenistan in winter and spring, given the unhappy prospects of the local greenhouse business.

The landmark supply of greenhouse tomatoes from Turkmenistan to the EU country is also worth mentioning. One truck with Turkmen tomatoes reached Austria in April 2021. Although there were no further exports for unknown reasons, the situation may change in the coming months, and greenhouse tomatoes from Turkmenistan may enter the markets of the EU countries again.

In general, Russia reduced the import volume of greenhouse tomatoes by 12% to 337 thousand tons in the first eight months of 2021.

Сообщение Turkmenistan doubled greenhouse tomato exports to Russia and is catching up with Uzbekistan появились сначала на EastFruit.

According to the EastFruit analytical group, in 2021 Uzbekistan was able to significantly increase the export of fresh white cabbage, as well as broccoli and cauliflower to Belarus. In the first 8 months of 2021, the export of Uzbek white cabbage reached a record 2.7 thousand tons, while the export of broccoli and cauliflower increased to a modest 57 tons, which, however, was also a new supply record.

Due to the warmer climate, Uzbekistan can start exporting young cabbage of a new crop as early as March – three months earlier than locally produced cabbage becomes available on the Belarusian market. Accordingly, bulk shipments of young white cabbage from Uzbekistan to Belarus began in March and peaked in April, when more than 1,000 tons were supplied. In April, broccoli with cauliflower was mainly supplied from Uzbekistan to Belarus.

We also note the growth of exports of table beets and onions grown in Uzbekistan to the Belarusian market this year. Uzbekistan exported 1.9 thousand tons of onions and 434 tons of beets. Exports of onions increased by 5% and beets – by 74%. However, the main reason for the sharp increase in demand for beets was the situation on the Russian market, where prices for this type of vegetables broke all records. Accordingly, Russia began to import beets and carrots from all countries in the region, incl. Central Asia and Belarus, which led to a domino effect, and prices for these products rose sharply in most countries that supplied root crops to Russia.

But exports of greenhouse tomatoes from Uzbekistan to Belarus have dropped by 31%. Here the situation was the opposite – Belarus itself increased both the production and export of this type of product, so its need for imports decreased significantly.

Сообщение Uzbekistan increases cabbage exports to Belarus in 2021 появились сначала на EastFruit.

The limited supply of greenhouse tomatoes on the Russian market allows local growers to raise their prices, analysts of the EastFruit project report. Note that the prices for greenhouse tomatoes in Russia have been increasing for the third week in a row.

According to the daily monitoring of the project, last Friday Russian greenhouse sold tomatoes at 100-150 RUB/kg ($1.39-2.09/kg), which is on average 11% more expensive than at the end of the previous working week.

As noted by market players, supplies of greenhouse tomatoes from are now at low levels and unstable. Thus, a number of growers have already announced the completion of the sale of tomatoes from the previous production cycle. In the remaining greenhouses, the ripening of tomatoes slowed down due to the cold snap, and supplies from greenhouses stopped altogether. Moreover, the lack of local greenhouse vegetables has not yet been compensated by imported ones.

We add that as a result of the current price rise, prices for greenhouse tomatoes in the Russian Federation are on average 2.3 times higher than in the first half of October 2020. At the same time, producers intend to further increase prices, if the sales rates remain at the current level, explaining this by the limited supply of tomatoes from the local greenhouses.

Сообщение In Russia, tomato prices have doubled over the past year появились сначала на EastFruit.

According to EastFruit analysts, rapid development of the greenhouse business in Russia led to the replacement of a significant part of imports and forced Russia to enter on foreign markets.

Russia became a net exporter of cucumbers in the first four months of 2020 when imports of greenhouse vegetables are traditionally high! The import of greenhouse tomatoes continued to decline rapidly, and their exports began to develop for the first time. Russia remained a net importer of greenhouse tomatoes, but the volume of imports decreased by 17% over this period.

“Perhaps the most striking news is the systemic exports of greenhouse cucumbers and the first ever exports of Russian greenhouse tomatoes to Poland in the first four months of 2021. At the same time, Poland is one of the main exporters of greenhouse vegetables in the European Union,” Andriy Yarmak, economist at the Investments Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said.

According to trade statistics, Russia exported 579 tons of fresh cucumbers to Poland in January-April 2021, which made this EU country the second largest market for Russian greenhouses after Belarus, if we do not take into account the supply of vegetables to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, where Ukrainian products are not supplied. Also, Russia became one of the five largest suppliers of cucumbers to the Polish market during this period.

It is notable that despite the ban on the supply of all food products from the EU and Ukraine to Russia, including vegetables and fruits, the European Union and Ukraine did not prohibit the supply of Russian food to the EU and Ukraine. Thus, Russia is currently protecting its market from fruits and vegetables from the EU and at the same time uses the opportunity to export its goods to this market.

“The dynamic growth in the production of greenhouse vegetables in Russia, especially in the segment of greenhouse cucumbers, has led to an increase in price volatility in the market. During the period of growth in supply, prices for cucumbers sharply decrease and they begin to be actively exported, primarily to Belarus, which again leads to a certain deficit and a sharp rise in prices,” Andriy Yarmak explains.

Besides Poland, cucumbers from Russian greenhouses were also exported to Moldova, Estonia and Georgia. Exports to Moldova increased 2.6 times per year, to Estonia – by 75%, and greenhouse cucumbers from Russia had never been exported to Georgia before.

Export volumes of greenhouse tomato were modest, but the statistics are more interesting, as the first large exports of Russian greenhouse tomatoes in winter were made to Poland, Estonia and Georgia. Exports of greenhouse tomatoes from Russia to Belarus increased by 19% in January-April 2021 compared to the same period in 2020.

Despite the decrease in imports of greenhouse tomatoes to Russia in the analyzed period of 2021, there were also countries that sharply increased their exports to this market. Attention is drawn primarily to the growth in the export of greenhouse tomatoes from Turkmenistan to Russia. It became third in the rating of exporters, bypassing Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and China and increasing supplies by 2.2 times. Uzbekistan also increased the export of greenhouse tomatoes to Russia but less dramatically – by 87% compared to the same period last year. It continues to increase the exports of greenhouse tomatoes to Russia, Kazakhstan and even Egypt.

Morocco which was one of the main exporters of greenhouse tomatoes to the Russian market left the market due to the frequent detection of the pepino mosaic virus in Moroccan tomatoes. This led to the urgent need to look for alternative sales markets and helped Turkey to maintain its leadership position in this business. At the same time, the volume of supplies of greenhouse tomatoes from Turkey to the Russian Federation remained at the level of the previous year.

Obviously, huge investments in state-of-the-art greenhouse complexes in Russia are starting to pay off. According to the experts of the greenhouse business, it is still a big question how economically successful these projects are and how stable they will be if the competition in the market is high.

Сообщение Russia increases exports of greenhouse cucumbers and tomatoes to Poland and other EU countries появились сначала на EastFruit.

The season of greenhouse and imported tomatoes in Georgia is coming to an end. For now supply of seasonal tomatoes grown in high polyethylene tunnels has increased, soon open ground tomatoes will appear on the market and accordingly, prices will decrease further.

How do greenhouse producers assess the past season and what are the expectations of the producers of open field in the upcoming season?

Source: east-fruit.com

The local tomatoes in Georgia are available almost all year round, however, the largest amount of local production appears on the market in June, when the season kicks off in high tunnels, and then proceeds with open field tomatoes.

In winter and early spring, Turkish tomatoes dominate the market. Accordingly, prices reach a maximum in January-February and a minimum in August and September. This trend in price change is typical for both red and pink tomatoes, although the price of pink tomatoes exceeds the price of red ones all year round. According to EastFruit monitoring, wholesale prices for pink tomatoes in 2019-2020 were about 50% higher than prices for red tomatoes. Last year, the minimum price for both pink and red tomatoes was set in September, with an average wholesale price of 0.7 GEL/kg ($0.22) for red tomatoes and 1.37 GEL/kg ($0.43) for pink tomatoes.

The largest greenhouse complex in Georgia belongs to Georgian Agro House Ltd., whose products are known to customers under the brand name Planta.

Planta grows red, pink and cherry tomatoes in the greenhouses. The harvest begins in September and continues until June. From September 2020 to the present day, the company has sold 1,500 tons of tomatoes, which is almost equal in quantity to the 2019-2020 yield, although due to the pandemic there have been changes in sales of packaged vs unpacked (wholesale) products. According to company representative Luka Sturua, sales of packaged vegetables including tomatoes have grown by about 20% this season, while sales of unpackaged ones have declined. Planta’s unpackaged products are mainly sold in agrarian markets.

Sturua notes that demand for their products, including tomatoes, has declined this year on agricultural markets due to the pandemic, as their main wholesale buyer is the HoReCa sector.

Tomato production in greenhouses will be finished at the end of June and will resume in September, although in July-August the company plans to purchase tomatoes from local farmers and thus not stop supplying packaged tomatoes to the market. Sturua notes that in the summer season, the company buys from the population only pink tomatoes that meet the company’s quality requirements, but high-quality red tomatoes and cherry tomatoes are rare.

High tunnel tomatoes are mainly produced in regions Kvemo Kartli, Samegrelo and Imereti and are available on the market from April to late autumn. Now the market sells mainly tomatoes produced in Kvemo Kartli and Samegrelo, season soon starts in Imereti too. In the western regions, mainly pink tomatoes are produced, and in Kvemo Kartli both pink and red varieties. One of the largest tomato growers in Kvemo Kartli is Abaz Musaev, who owns 4 hectares of greenhouses where he grows pink tomatoes and works only with large buyers. Musaev started harvesting in April. Now Musayev sells pink tomatoes at 3 GEL / kg, ($0.92) noting that this year prices are about one GEL lower than last year. Musaev attributes the low price to lower demand due to the pandemic and a possible increase in supply this year. Although it is worth noting that due to the high quality that can be achieved through the advice of a specialist invited from Turkey, the price of tomatoes from this manufacturer is usually higher than the market.

The planting of mostly red tomato seedlings in open field in Shida Kartli began in May, and the first harvest is expected in August. Farmers assess the last season negatively, claiming that local prices fell to 0.4–0.7 GEL / kg, ($0.13-$0.22) which made it unprofitable to harvest tomatoes.

Levan Guraspashvili is one of those who decided to plant fewer tomatoes this year. Last year, the farmer had 23 hectares of tomatoes, and this year he only cultivates 8 hectares. Considering the high production costs (8-10 thousand GEL per hectare) and the unsuccessful last year’s season, the farmer no longer dared to produce large quantities of tomatoes, although, in his opinion, prices could be better this year, as other farmers around him have also reduced the area under the tomatoes.

Сообщение Georgia prepares for open field tomato season появились сначала на EastFruit.