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).