Fruit imports in January 2021 remained virtually unchanged compared to the same month in 2020, but changes in the import structure were significant.
First of all, attention is drawn to the decrease in the volume of imports of two key items – bananas and apples. Banana imports to Russia fell by 12% to 115 thousand mt, while apple imports fell by 29% to 38 thousand mt in January.
Regarding the structure of Russian fruit imports in January 2021, the sharp increase in mandarin imports should be noted. The main increase in the supply of these citrus fruits was from Turkey, Pakistan, and Georgia. At the same time, the imports of mandarins from Egypt to the Russian Federation fell.
The import of oranges also increased, although not as sharply as the import of mandarins. Egypt became the main beneficiary here and increased supplies by 42% at once, in the same time the supply of oranges from Morocco to Russia fell by half in January 2021. The import of persimmons continues to grow rapidly – in January 2021, Russia imported 37% more of these fruits than in the same month of last year, and the main increase was provided by imports from Azerbaijan and Iran, which almost ousted Turkey from the Russian market.
In terms of countries, Moldova reduced supplies to Russia the most – by more than 30% in January. Moreover, the decline occurred in all key positions, except for fresh plums. Turkey increased its exports by 19%, Egypt – by 20%, Morocco, Azerbaijan, and Iran – by 5%, and Peru – by 30%. The decline in supplies from Ecuador was equal to the volume of the decline in banana imports.
Uzbekistan fell back to 24th place in the ranking of the main suppliers of fruits to Russia in January, having reduced exports by 11% to $2 million compared to last year. Georgia was among the 15 largest suppliers, having increased fruit exports to Russia in January 2021 2.3 times to $5.5 million – it exported almost three times more fruit to Russia than Uzbekistan.