Market News

TURQUALITY Projects Open Global Doors for Turkish Dried Fruits

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Over the past decade, Türkiye’s dried fruit sector has experienced significant growth, particularly in exports to the USA, China, and Japan. This expansion is largely attributed to the implementation of TURQUALITY and URGE (Product Development) projects, which, supported by the Ministry of Trade and coordinated by the Aegean Exporters’ Associations (EIB), have enhanced the global competitiveness of Turkish dried fruits. As a result, exports to these three markets have increased by 101%, from $93 million to $187 million, contributing to an overall rise of 9% in quantity and 12% in value of Türkiye’s dried fruit exports over the last ten years.

Mehmet Ali Işık, Chair of the Aegean Dried Fruits and Products Exporters’ Association, highlighted these achievements at a recent sector evaluation meeting. He emphasized that the sector aims to further increase annual exports from the current $1.6 billion to over $2 billion within the next three years. This ambitious goal is to be achieved through continued participation in international fairs and the strategic application of TURQUALITY and URGE projects. The success in these markets underscores the effectiveness of coordinated efforts among ministries, producers, traders, and academic institutions in promoting Türkiye’s dried fruit industry on the global stage.

www.turkishagrinews.com

Uzbekistan Simplified the Procedure for Exporting Fruits and Vegetables

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Uzbekistan has simplified the exports of fruits and vegetables for farmers. The President of Uzbekistan signed a corresponding resolution. Under the document, private entrepreneurs received the right to export fruits and vegetables without prepayment, letters of credit, or bank guarantees from November 10, 2022, uzdaily.uz writes.

The President also abolished the requirement for individual entrepreneurs to insure an export contract against political and commercial risks. Recall that the authorities of the city of St. Petersburg (RF) plan to expand trade and economic ties with Uzbekistan, in particular, on the supply of fruits and vegetables. The governor of the city held talks on this and other issues with the head of the MIFT of Uzbekistan, Jamshid Khodjaev.

In turn, supplies of Uzbek fruits and vegetables to the Russian Federation may increase in the future. To this end, the establishment of a network of wholesale distribution centers is being worked out.

www.freshplaza.com

 

 

Despite the War, Ukraine Set a Record of Blueberries Exports in 2022

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Despite the invasion of the Russian occupation troops, the damage to part of the plantations in the central and northern regions of the country, Ukrainian growers increased blueberry exports in 2022 to a record high!

The total export of fresh blueberries from Ukraine in 2022 exceeded 2 500 tonnes, an increase of 1.5 times compared to 2021. The previous record for blueberry exports from Ukraine, reached in 2019, was exceeded by 11%. And this is even though there were no exports of blueberries in 2022 from Ukraine to Belarus, which was one of the main markets for Ukrainian blueberries until 2022.

Poland has traditionally been the main market for blueberries from Ukraine. In 2022, Poland imported 2.2 times more blueberries from Ukraine than in 2021, and the export volume reached 1 350 tonnes per season. Thus, more than 50% of all Ukrainian blueberries were sent to Poland. At the same time, Poland was only a transit point for blueberries from Ukraine to other EU countries, because the export of fresh blueberries from Poland many times exceeds the volume of blueberry exports from Ukraine.

Other major importers of blueberries from Ukraine – the Netherlands, the UK, and Moldova – also sharply increased their import volumes: by 80%, 68%, and 2.4 times, respectively. For the first time, wholesale batches of blueberries from Ukraine also went to Spain, Germany, Georgia, and Finland. However, to countries where blueberries were previously delivered by planes – the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, and Singapore, they were not exported due to Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine.

www.east-fruit.com

‘Ukraine Will not Have Potato Shortage This Winter, Despite War’

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According to a statement from the Agriculture Ministry, Ukraine will not face a shortage of potatoes this winter, despite its refusal to import from Russia and Belarus. Ukraine traditionally imports potatoes from these two states, but it has halted all supplies after the Russian invasion. The Ministry said in a statement around 12 million tons of potatoes had already been harvested as of October 25, or 73% of an expected harvest of around 16.6 million tons. It gave no data for the 2021 harvest.

It said the 2022 area sown to potatoes had fallen by 36%, due to hostilities in many regions. Potatoes are the most widely consumed vegetable in Ukraine. Almost all potatoes in Ukraine are harvested by small households.

www.freshplaza.com

 

Moldova to Export Less Table Grapes Than Last Year

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Between August and mid-October, Moldova exported just over 17,000 mt of table grapes from the 2022 harvest. This is about the same as what was exported in the same period last year. As expected, Romania is the first in the TOP countries-importers of Moldovan table grapes – almost 5,700 mt, Kazakhstan is quite unexpectedly the second – more than 4,000 mt, the third is Ukraine with about 2,000 mt. The Belarusian and Russian markets, which in previous years were at the top of the list of importers of grapes from Moldova, received 1,700 mt and 724 mt, respectively.

Representatives of associations note with regret that in the current marketing year the country is exporting a much smaller volume of table grapes than last season (about 68,000 mt). Although the harvest of table grapes in 2022 in Moldova will be higher than in 2021 – more than 100,000 mt against 85,000 mt, the quality of grapes from the 2022 harvest, despite the drought, is also better than last year.

The main problem is that due to the Russian embargo, limited demand for Moldova table grapes in autumn, and a significant increase in electricity tariffs, according to expert forecasts, only about 20,000-25,000 mt of grapes will be stored in the country’s fruit storage facilities for sale in November-January. Last year, about 40,000 mt were stored for export during this period.

Unfortunately, according to fruit market participants, due to uncertain commercial prospects and increased storage costs, a significant proportion of medium and even high-quality Moldova grapes from vineyards is sent directly to wineries. At the same time, the purchase prices for industrial table grapes fell to the minimum level – 2 MDL/kg ($0.10/kg).

www.east-fruit.com

Despite Increased Quota Moldova Unlikely to Export More then 15-20,000 MT of Apples to EU

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Experts from non-governmental organizations and traders from the Republic of Moldova agree that the statement by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry MAIA on the possibility of exporting a record 50,000 mt of apples this season is “achievable, but unreasonably optimistic.”

According to east-fruit.com, the ministerial declaration was caused by two positive facts. Firstly, as has been repeatedly noted at all levels, the European Commission has doubled the quota for the export of Moldovan apples to the EU in the current marketing year – up to 80,000 mt. This should be considered an important incentive, primarily psychological. It can also be assumed that the EU authorities and the national governments of some countries also encourage European traders and retailers to cooperate with apple suppliers from Moldova. Secondly, this summer, Moldova exported approximately 2,000 mt of apples to Romania every month (while its total export to the European market from Moldova last year amounted to about 1,800 mt).

However, since the beginning of autumn, supplies of Moldovan apples to the European Union have dropped sharply. Even if we assume that Moldova will quickly pick up the “summer pace” of apple supplies to Romania in the second half of October and enter other European markets with small volumes, Moldovan traders may be able to export about 20,000 mt of apples by next summer. According to experts from farmers’ organizations, this will also be a very good result. Especially if we consider the high harvest of 2022 apples in many European countries, in particular, in Poland, and a low apple harvest in Moldova (according to an optimistic forecast – 480 000 mt, according to a pessimistic one – 380,000-400,000 mt).

Many horticultural enterprises gathered resources for timely and high-quality harvesting of apples in October, but, according to fruit market players, their storing is going rather slowly. And it is still unclear whether traders will accumulate the previously expected commodity volume of 100,000 mt of apples in fruit storages before the winter.

www.freshplaza.com

Ukrainian Apple Season 2022

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The Ukrainian apple season should be in full swing right now, but demand seems to be at a low point right now. On the growers’ side, some are opting to send all of their harvest toward processing facilities, to minimize both risks and costs as much as possible.

Volodymyr Gurzhiy of Ukrainian apple exporter USPA states that the war in Ukraine is just one factor in the very challenging season they’re currently in: “Every season is different, however, the season of 2022-2023 is going to be even more outstanding. The war in Ukraine brought a lot of changes and challenges, which affects all the markets considerably. For Ukrainian exporters, the most painful is the closed Belarusian market, as they had a significant share in our export in the previous seasons, skyrocketed energy costs, huge prices for packaging, and double and sometimes triple logistics cost compared to the same week of the previous year. I don’t think we are unique in all that circumstances in the whole of Europe; however, our logistics costs are enormously high. It’s going to be hard to compete until the Ukrainian ports are to be opened.” (more…)

Ukraine War Drives Port of Constanta Rapid Container Growth

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Port of Constanta in Romania, which is located at the crossroads of the trade routes linking markets of the landlocked countries of Eastern Europe with the Caucasus, Middle East and Central Asia, became a cargo-transit hub for all kinds of transport including ro-ro, according to a recent report by Informall BG, a cargo analytical bureau in the Black Sea region.

Under normal market conditions, the port of Constanta’s annual container turnover growth rate is at 2-3%. However, Informall data shows that Constanta increased its laden container volume by 10,4% in the first half of 2022 vs the same period in 2021.

The reason behind it is the war in Ukraine, according to Informall, which noted that while Ukrainian container terminals remain blocked, a large share of container traffic destined to Ukraine is moving to Constanta followed by transit-truck or train delivery to a final destination in Ukraine.

It is important to note that 2M Alliance continues dominating over Romanian container marketplace handling almost 40% of total laden traffic in Constanta. The two partners of the largest container alliance in the world, Maersk and MSC, gained 6,75% of additional container volume in H1 2022 vs H1 2021 in Constanta. Similarly to Romania, 2M Alliance controls 47% of Ukrainian container traffic on the Black Sea.

www.container-news.com

Ukrainian Walnut Production Projected to Drop to 95,500 MT for MY 2022/23

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The USDA projects Ukraine’s walnut production decreasing to 95,500 metric tons (MT) for marketing year (MY) 2022/23 based on a combination of suboptimal weather conditions and some production areas in Russian-occupied areas. Exports were slow for two consecutive marketing years (MY) in a row: MY2020/21 – because of quality issues and administrative barriers by Turkey; and MY2021/22 – due to constrained logistics stemming from Russia’s invasion.

Domestic consumption is expected to decrease for MY2021/22 and remain the same level for MY2022/23 as result of Russian invasion. Although, some of the drop in consumption might be partially compensated by the observed decrease for imported tree nuts (predominantly almonds and cashews) and expected decrease in prices for home-grown walnuts. A drop in domestic prices is expected based on large walnut stocks accumulated on the market due to reduced exports.

Post estimates walnut consumption at around 30,000 MT both for MY2022/23 and MY2021/22, both of these estimates are nine percent lower than the MY2019/20 estimate, which could be considered as pre-conflict baseline for walnut consumption in Ukraine.

Click here to read the full report.

www.freshplaza.com

New Program Should Increase Georgian Agri Exports to High-Value Markets

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The United States Agency for International Development Agriculture Programme, Enterprise Georgia and the Rural Development Agency of the country have launched a new programme to establish export market connections for Georgian companies involved in agriculture business.

Enterprise Georgia announced the initiative on Monday, saying it would aim to connect Georgian producers with interested buyers in Germany and Persian Gulf countries. It also noted about 80 export-oriented enterprises producing blueberry and walnut crops and processing food were selected for the programme.

As part of the move, a “large international consulting company” will work closely with the Georgian companies to help them formulate their export offer, the Agency said.

In addition, the programme aims to help the Georgian companies find buyers in target export markets and establish business deals.

“The programme will support dozens of Georgian companies and give them the opportunity to start exporting their products to high-value export markets”, the Agency said.

agenda.ge