Market News

Russia is Rapidly Increasing its Consumption of the Exotic Macadamia Nut

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In the first eight months of 2021, the import of macadamia to the Russian Federation increased six times compared to the same period in 2020 and reached 457 mt. To explain how significant this volume is, we can compare it with the volume of imports of pistachios, which are quite traditional for Russia. So, the import of pistachios to Russia during the same period reached only 586 mt. Thus, it was only slightly more than imports of macadamia nuts. But just 4 years ago, the import of macadamia to the Russian Federation was close to zero and amounted to only about 19 mt.

Why is macadamia nut popular among consumers? First of all, macadamia’s taste distinguishes it from most other nuts, because it has a pleasant sweetish taste. To many, the taste of macadamia nuts is close to the taste of ice cream due to its creamy and even vanilla tones and high-fat content. Therefore, this nut can be used as food and as a snack, and as a dessert. However, despite its sweet taste, this nut is considered one of the most useful nuts in the world due to a big amount of vitamins, beneficial trace elements, and polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Macadamia has almost caught up with Brazilian nuts in terms of supplies to Russia, but it is still much inferior to such nuts as cashews, almonds, or hazelnuts.

east-fruit.com

Iran Increased Fruit Exports to Russia by 50% in 2021

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Iran exported a record volume of fruits and nuts worth $196 million to Russia in the first three quarters of 2021. Fruit exports of Iran to the Russian Federation increased by 1.5 times in value terms in the first nine months of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020.

Andriy Yarmak, Economist at the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, told: “The growth in the supply of fruits and nuts from Iran to Russia is one of the reasons for the difficulties fruit suppliers from Moldova and Uzbekistan began to experience in the Russian market last year. Iran can offer a wide range of fruits and supplies them almost all year round, which distinguishes this country from its competitors.”

“Also, Iranian suppliers are active in promoting their fruits, while exporters from Moldova, for example, rarely resort to advertising their products. In particular, in the largest fruit and vegetable trading group EF Trade Platform in Telegram, Iran is often among the five most active countries, and Moldova is usually not even in the top 10.”

Apples are a key item of Iranian exports to Russia. In the first 9 months of 2021, Iran increased their exports to Russia 2.5 times to 125,000 tons. They are followed by kiwi, of which more than 37,000 mt were exported from Iran to Russia during this period, watermelons (27,400 mt), peaches and nectarines (26,600 mt), raisins (12,200 mt), dates (7,400 mе), cherries (7,300 mt), pistachio (7,100 mt), sour cherries (6,800 mt), table grapes (4,100 mt) and plums (3,400 mt). Experts note that these volumes may be underestimated since some of the fruits are exported from Iran to Russia through third countries.

www.freshplaza.com

Apple Demand in Eastern Europe is Low, but Prices are Higher Than in the 2018/19 Seaso

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Moldova

Moldova is the largest exporter of apples from non-EU countries in the region, therefore special attention is always riveted to it. Producers note extremely low apple demand, so they are trying to find storage, hoping that demand will recover in the future. Also, traders are not willing to buy apples, since there is almost no demand from the part of virtually the only foreign market – Russia.

Nevertheless, traders that have their own fruit storage facilities are buying export-quality apples from producers directly from the orchards, as they often have to sell them at $0.20-2.25 per kg.

The average price of apples in Moldova is still significantly higher than in 2018. In the second half of September, prices for most apple varieties sold from the orchards even dropped to $0.10-0.15 in 2018.

The apple storage capacity in Moldova is much higher now than three years ago. It means that a record amount of apples is very likely to be stored. And even so, market participants are worried about a lack of storage facilities.

The second difference is apple production in Russia. In three years, it has grown so much that it covers the entire volume of apple exports from Moldova. Of course, this does not mean that there is no demand for Moldovan apples in the Russian Federation, but it indicates its significant decrease.

Ukraine (more…)

Potato and Vegetable Prices Set New Records in Russia

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Most vegetables have risen in price by 1,5 to 2 times compared to last year and have set new records for September, when, as a rule, the supply of vegetables exceeds demand on the market.

When in June prices for carrots and beets in Russia reached unprecedented levels, officials hoped for a new harvest to significantly reduce the prices. However, most of the potatoes and vegetables of the so-called “borsch set” to be stored have already been harvested, but prices are record high and continue to rise.

“Last week, carrot prices jumped by 22% at once, and the price for potatoes increased by 8%. The summer drought followed by rains when the produce had to be harvested, affected both volumes and quality of the grown produce. Market participants fear that there will not be enough high-quality potatoes and vegetables that can be stored until spring. The second factor influencing the rise in prices is the continued rains that delay the harvesting of potatoes, carrots, and beets. Accordingly, the supply is not as high as it could be at this time” explains Andriy Yarmak, economist at the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

By the way, Belarus is experiencing similar problems, where prices for vegetables and potatoes are also breaking records, and the country has already begun to import potatoes from Ukraine and other countries.

However, market experts emphasize that bad weather is not the main factor affecting the decline in production and the rise in prices for potato and vegetables. The vegetable growing crisis in Russia has been going on since 2019 and it was caused by a long period of low prices and low profitability of production.

Potatoes are currently sold in Russia on average twice as expensive as last year.

Carrots have risen in prices slightly less than potatoes, but their prices have increased sharply last week. According to market participants, they will continue to grow. At the moment, wholesale carrots are 69% more expensive than at the same time last year.

The situation with onion prices is better – so far they are sold only 17% more expensive than last year. Moreover, they even have a slight tendency to decline. Also, onions in Russia are now cheaper than in other countries of the region. Therefore, the downward trend in onion prices may soon be replaced by growth.

Note that in the first seven months of 2021, Russia increased its imports of potatoes by 70%, carrots by 19%, but reduced onion imports by a third. The largest volumes of potatoes and onions were supplied to Russia by Egypt. Large volumes of onions were also imported from Turkey, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and China. The main part of carrots Russia imported from Israel, China, Egypt, and Belarus.

east-fruit.com

Russia Sharply Increased Imports of Watermelon from Uzbekistan and Turkey, Setting a New Record

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In 2021 Russia will set a new record for watermelon imports. With several months still left till the end of the year, the record has already been set – as of the end of July 2021, imports of watermelon in Russia reached 46 thousand mt, while in 2020, in total, 38,3 thousand mt of watermelon were imported.

Thus, according to our estimates, by the end of 2021, imports of fresh watermelon to Russia may exceed 70 thousand mt for the first time, and the import volume will grow by about 80% compared to 2020’s record imports.

In certain circumstances, the imports of watermelons to the Russian Federation may even double. in 2021, watermelon prices across Europe were unusually low. Even if Russia could not directly import watermelons from Ukraine where farmers were ready to give them from the field for free, imports from Central Asia, where prices during the peak export in June-July, were also the lowest in recent years. (more…)

More Azerbaijani Enterprises to Export Apples to Russia

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The Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance of Russia (Rosselkhoznadzor) has authorized more 11 Azerbaijani enterprises to export apples to Russia since September 14 under the guarantees from the Food Safety Agency (FSA) of Azerbaijan.

As reported, this became possible through the joint measures of the agency and relevant structures for removing restrictions on the export of tomatoes and apples from Azerbaijan to Russia.

Totally, as to date, Rosselkhoznadzor has authorized the import of apples from 65 Azerbaijani enterprises. The export potential of these enterprises is 144,767 mt, which is more than double the volume of apple exports to Russia in 2020 (66,924 mt).

trend.az

An Overview of the Plum Market in Ukraine, Moldova, Poland, and Russia

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Most of the largest plum growers in Eastern Europe are now selling their products cheaper than last year. However, it does not mean that all growers are dissatisfied with prices. Moreover, the market situation differs in each country. For instance, the plum season in Ukraine is the worst growers had in recent years, but for other countries, it is one of the best.

Given the challenging weather in the key EU plum-producing countries in the spring of 2020, as well as the record high prices in 2020, market participants hoped that prices in 2021 would not be lower than last year. However, only in Russia the average wholesale price for plums today roughly corresponds to last year’s level, while in Moldova, Poland and Ukraine, prices are lower than in 2021.

The most notable decrease of wholesale prices for plums, more than one and a half times, was in Ukraine. Last year, the price was higher, as a large part of the harvest was lost due to frosts. The areas planted with plums in Ukraine tended to expand since plums are in good demand in the European Union. Thus, in 2021 the plum harvest in Ukraine has grown sharply and prices have fallen. (more…)

Food City Wholesale Market in Moscow is Oversaturated with Uzbek Table Grapes

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The supply of Uzbek table grapes on the Russian market is beginning to significantly exceed demand, and this ratio has formed a downward trend in prices. Russian purchasing retail chains have reduced purchasing prices for Uzbek table grapes by 25-30% over the past month.

At the same time, market participants foresee a further decline in prices for Uzbek table grapes in the near future, despite the current prices being already 20-30% lower compared to the same period last year.

Since the export season of Uzbek table grapes starts in July and its most active phase, which accounts for most of the annual export volumes, lasts from August to November, now is the peak season. Therefore, we can already draw conclusions that the prices for Uzbek table grapes in Russia are not favorable for their growers and exporters. (more…)

Tomato Greenhouse of 100 Hectares Under Construction

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A greenhouse complex of 100 hectares is currently under construction in the Russian region of Kabardino-Balkaria. The agro-industrial holding ECO-culture plans to grow in it some 63,000 mt of tomatoes per year.

“The surface area of the greenhouse complex is 100 hectares. The project will be carried out in 2 steps: 40 hectares first, followed by 60 hectares (the construction should be completed by the end of 2024). The production capacity of the facilities will be about 62,000-63,000 mt of tomatoes per year, making it the biggest project in Russia,” explained Alexander Rudakov, president of the company.

“The project in Kabardino-Balkaria will be the largest in the region. 2,000 jobs will be created. There will be a large distribution center, as well as packaging equipment. It will be a mega-complex of modern greenhouses, but we will not put robots to harvest the tomatoes because the region needs jobs. Even if it is more profitable for everyone, we will automate as much as possible to make people’s work easier.”

500,000 mt of tomatoes are imported each year in Russia. “The Russian chains are pleased to take the Russian product. It is delicious and keeps longer, so the demand is high. We expect to get 63 kg of tomatoes per square meter from February until December. Then, we will gradually transfer the areas to raspberries, strawberries and blueberries,” explains Alexander Rudakov.

“The project will be amortized in 10 years. There are always risks, but those risks are comparable to the opportunities. Over the years, we have had no problem with ECO-culture regarding payments. They have been reliable partners and we are ready to get into other projects, including other regions,” explained Igor Yatsuk, TASS deputy director of the regional branch of the Russian Agricultural Bank.

freshplaza.com

Russia to Partially Lift Restrictions on Tomato, Pepper Supplies from Belarus

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The Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Rosselkhoznadzor will partially lift temporary restrictions on the supplies of tomatoes and peppers from Belarus, BelTA learned from the website of Russia’s agriculture safety watchdog.

“Rosselkhoznadzor has allowed the import of tomatoes made by the Stakhovichi farm (Brest Oblast) and V.G. Denishchik (Grodno Oblast), as well as tomatoes and peppers from five producers: individual entrepreneur S.S. Rudyak (Brest Oblast ), V.K. Kirilko (Brest Oblast), D.S. Kirilko (Brest Oblast), G.V. Kozlyak (Brest Oblast), A.A. Kozlyak (Brest Oblast),” the message reads.

This decision was made following the study of the materials submitted by the Belarusian side on the phytosanitary examination of tomatoes and peppers in the places of production, as well as the guarantees of the Main State Inspectorate for Seed Production, Quarantine and Plant Protection of Belarus.

eng.belta.by