According to EastFruit analysts, prices for fresh apples of the most common variety Golden Delicious in Poland, Ukraine, and Moldova remain stable, showing no signs of recovery. The lowest prices are in Poland, which had a good apple yield in 2022. The price situation is very similar to all of the main fresh apple varieties.
Even farmers in Ukraine, a country blocked from its own seaports by the Russian aggressors, get higher prices than growers in Poland. Moldova, partly thanks to its relatively low apple production in 2022 and thanks to partial access to the Russian market, enjoys the highest price of the three. Yet, in all of these countries, prices are well below normal levels and far from being comfortable for growers.
“Considering the fast growth in the costs of inputs, energy, and logistics in 2022, current price levels, which are 20-25% below the average for this season, are threatening apple production sustainability in the whole region. Farmers in Ukraine and Moldova this winter were busy uprooting old orchards. Farmers in Poland have called the government to stop supporting new plantations and are supporting the uprooting instead to help reduce market imbalances”, says Andriy Yarmak, economist of the Investment Centre at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO).
In Poland, fresh apple prices remain very low for the second consecutive season. Usually, at this time of the year, growers are selling Golden Delicious apples at $0.40-0.45/kg but in the recent two years, the prices were between $0.29 and $0.33 per kg, while costs have increased drastically.
In 2022/23 many growers were forced to sell apples faster due to inflated costs of apple storage caused by higher electricity prices. Consequently, current wholesale apple prices in Poland are even a bit higher than a year ago but still relatively low.
“Problems with apple shipments to Egypt from November 2022 and the sharp devaluation of the Egyptian pound in December and January continue to provide pressure on the Polish apple market, forcing Polish exporters to look for alternative markets in Asia as far as Mongolia and India. However, logistics to Asia are expensive, which does not help domestic prices. Consequently, average wholesale prices of apples in Poland have moved up only 1-3 cents per kg since they were put in storage,” explains Andriy Yarmak.
For more information: east-fruit.com