According to estimates by the Moldova Fruct Association, based on data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development, and Environment, nearly 15,400 tons of apples were exported from the country in May 2024, totalling $9.6 million (with an average invoice price of $0.62/kg). This means that the physical volume of apple exports last month was slightly higher than in May 2023 (just under 12,000 tons), but half of what it was in May 2022 (31,200 tons).
For further comparison: in May 2021, Moldova exported just over 18,000 tons of apples, in the same month of 2020 – almost 25,000 tons, and in May 2019 – almost 21,000 tons. Thus, the average May apple export from Moldova over the past five years was 21,400 tons. Consequently, the external apple shipments from Moldova in May of this year (and last year) were significantly below the five-year average.
The geography of apple exports last month is also noteworthy. There were only two major buyers of Moldovan apples: Russia – 11,100 tons, and Romania – almost 2,500 tons. Exports to other countries in May amounted to only a few dozen tons. In May 2024, Moldova exported apples to only seven countries. At the beginning of this year, the country was exporting apples to 22 countries, with the export geography narrowing monthly.
From January to May 2024, Moldova exported a total of 87,800 tons of apples ($53.9 million, $0.61/kg). The top five buyers of Moldovan apples during this period were: Russia – 51,300 tons ($30.8 million, $0.60/kg), Romania – almost 16,200 tons (nearly $9.6 million, $0.59/kg), Belarus – almost 7,400 tons (slightly over $5 million, $0.69/kg), Saudi Arabia – 3,300 tons (almost $3 million, $0.89/kg), and Kazakhstan – 2,700 tons (nearly $1.4 million, $0.50/kg).
In June of this year, the potential for apple exports from Moldova is likely to be below the five-year average, as Moldova Fruct predicts. At present, there are comparatively few export-quality apples from the 2023 harvest remaining in the cold storage facilities of agricultural and trading enterprises.
Source: agroexpert.md