Israeli exporters say that, while Russian demand and prices have been good, it has been too risky to export the normal volumes to the country, which has invaded its neighbour Ukraine. The Russian Ruble currency has dropped drastically lately as sanctions and war spending are starting to bite.
Michael Amar, Marketing Director at Kibbutz Alumim in Israel, says it became challenging to export to Russia due to the ongoing restrictions. “We did not export too much to Russia because of the problems with banks and money transfers. We did not export too much carrots and potatoes to Russia either. We sent less than 50% of our usual volume. We could not get our money nor send products without the needed guarantees. There was demand, prices were good, but it was too risky. Importers in Russia could not give us any insurance if they could not send payments. The only sector that could work with us were the big supermarket chains who were able to get insurance. You have to prove it’s only food, that you are not sending weapons with the carrots. It was too tough for us to continue trading with all these challenges. I think all exporters in Israel worked with 40%-50% of their normal volumes in Russia. On top of the currency there’s a lot of challenges to send produce to Russia,” explains Amar.
Another exporter commented: “The weaker Ruble does not affect us at this stage because we are in the low season of fresh herbs exports.”
Potato and carrot season finished
Amar says they finished a very good potato and carrot export season amidst high demand in especially Europe. “It’s been a good season. Although not everything was good. We had lower yield in our potato fields. The quality was very good. Because yields were lower, there was less supply leading to higher prices. The war in Russia and Ukraine affected Europe as well as the weather, caused by global warming, that’s why there was a big demand. It is a world-wide problem, not only in Israel.”
He says as Europe already switch to their own harvesting of potatoes while the next few months remain uncertain in terms of the market settling. “The potato demand is still good, no one has enough potatoes, not in the domestic nor export market. Pricing is very high and I know that in Europe it is very high too. The local producers started to harvest with a high demand market that is good for EU growers. No one can know what will happen in the next three to four months,” stated Amar.
For more information:
Michael Amar
Kibbutz Alumim
Tel: +972 54779 2842
Email: [email protected]
www.carrots.co.i