According to EastFruit analysts, potato prices in Ukraine are growing with an accelerated pace. Demand for the fresh potatoes has been reported as very high, which allowed farmers to continue increasing wholesale prices.
Since the end of the previous week average prices have increased already by 17%. Today the wholesale price of high-quality potatoes varies between 8 and 12 UAH/kg, which is equivalent to the US $0.22-0.33/kg. Thus, prices are already exceeding past year’s levels by 80% and are rather high for this season.
Reportedly, most large potato growers continue to restrain potato sales hoping for better prices later in the season, which in turn only fuels price increases in this segment. According to the farmers themselves, there is a very high percentage of substandard products in the current season, which is not suitable for long-term storage. Consequently, they expect prices to increase even faster after the temperatures drop below freezing.
Although potato prices in Ukraine are much higher than in 2022, they are also significantly lower than in Moldova and Poland. Ukraine, reportedly, continues to export potatoes to the market of Moldova but it can not export to Poland due to non-tariff berries imposed by the EU related to phytosanitary regulations.
For more information: east-fruit.com