apple import

Russia Allowed Apple and Pear Imports from China

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Rosselkhoznadzor has allowed Chinese importers to again supply fresh apples and pears to the Russian market from February 20, 2022. This is good news for China and for Russian consumers, who are now paying a very high price for Russia’s voluntary self-isolation from global markets.

However, industry sources say it is bad news for Moldova, which now has a major competitor in the Russian market. Andriy Yarmak, an economist at the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: “China is the world’s largest exporter of apples and has remained at the top of the global ranking of exporters, despite the ban on the supply of products to the Russian market. China exports about 1 million tons of fresh apples to many countries around the world annually.”

“The main advantage of Chinese apples is their low price. Therefore, they are mainly purchased for a low price segment, while China imports premium-quality apples from countries such as New Zealand, the USA, Chile, South Africa, and France.”

east-fruit.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…)

New Problems for the Moldovan Apples on the Russian Market

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The season of duties exemption for several groups of food products, including fresh fruit supplied from Moldova to the Russian market, expired on March 31, 2021. As a result, according to preliminary estimates of Moldovan traders, they will have to subtract from the current prices for exported apples, depending on their variety and quality, approximately 0.60-0.80 MDL/kg ($0.03-0.04/kg).

For Moldovan trade enterprises, which bought apples at relatively high prices on the local market last autumn for export to the Russian market in spring 2021, this is a rather serious issue. Many exporting traders were already working on the brink of zero profitability in winter this year: the prices for apples in Russia were significantly lower than expected, and the supply volumes were significantly lower than in the same months of previous years.

Producers of apples, especially those of high quality, found themselves in an equally difficult situation. In the absence of customs privileges, the advantages of Moldovan goods are decreasing in the highly competitive Russian apple market, and due to the limited purchasing power, the potential for price growth even for high-quality fruit is apparently exhausted.

According to the estimates of the associations of agricultural producers and traders, by the beginning of April, about 50-60 thousand mt of apples of the 2020 harvest remain in refrigerated warehouses. However, considering their “residual quality”, only half of these apples can be sold on the “fresh market” at best.

east-fruit.com

Azerbaijan Plans to Export 88,232 mt of Apples to Russia in 2021

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The volume of apples to be exported from Azerbaijan to Russia in 2021 will amount to 88,000 mt, according to forecasts of the Azerbaijan Food Safety Agency, the agency has reported.

Thirty-seven local enterprises will be allowed to export apples to Russia as a result of the negotiations held between the Azerbaijan Food Safety Agency and Russia’s agriculture watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor.

The last round of negotiations was held between the delegation from Azerbaijan Food Safety Agency and Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision in a videoconference format on February 16.

67 Azerbaijani enterprises exported 66,924 mt of apple products to Russia in 2020.

It should be noted that Azerbaijan is a major supplier of fruits and vegetables to Russia.

Rosselkhoznadzor banned the import of Azerbaijani tomatoes and apples on December 10, citing the necessity to “prevent the import and spread” of pesticides to Russia. So far, Russia has lifted the ban on imports of 51 tomato producers and 37 apple producers operating in Azerbaijan.

www.azernews.az

The Ministry of Agriculture expects an increase in apple harvest within 10 years

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The Ministry of Agriculture expects an increase in apple harvest within 10 years. In the next five years, the total apple harvest in the country will double, said the first deputy head of the department, Dzhambulat Khatuov.

“Today we consume 3.5 million MT of apple, we produce just over 1 million MT. The existing ambitions suggest that in the next five years we will double the volume of production. <…> And this dynamics, as we see it, will last at least 10 years “, – said Khatuov.

He explained that, among other things, modern technologies that are being introduced by farmers make it possible to increase production volumes: they create new apple orchards using new technologies, most of them based on the principles of intensive gardening.

“The most important thing is the state support measures. <…> The south of the country is Krasnodar Territory, Stavropol Territory, Kabardino Balkaria, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Crimea, Belgorod, Voronezh, Lipetsk are the main players that are growing in production volumes,” the deputy minister added.

www.tass.ru

Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation: Russia Reduced Fruit Exports and Increased Imports

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Russia reduced fruit exports and increased imports according to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation.

The export of pomaceous fruit decreased by 33.8% to 12,000 MT in volumes and by 37.3% to $4.5 million in value. The volume of apple exports fell to 11,700 MT (-34.8%) or $4 million (-39.5%). Export of pears, on the contrary, rose to 440.6 MT (+8.6%) and $371,000 (-3%). Last year, export of stone fruits grew up to 864,500 (+17.5%), worth $ 462,300 (-15.6%). At the same time, the export of berries increased by 47.9% in volumes to 305.5 MT and by 18% in value to $499,900.

In 2018, the main importers of Russian fruits were Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, China, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, and Estonia.

In 2018, the import of pomaceous fruit amounted to 1.1 million MT (+13.9%) and $726.6 million (+20.9%). The import of apples accounted for 845.400 MT (+19%), worth $518.3 million (+26.8%), pear import accounted for 272,900 TM (+0.6%) worth $202.2 million (+8.5%). The volume of stone fruit import amounted to 449,700 MT (+0.3%) and $430.7 million (+3.9%). Imports of berries increased by 45.6% in value to $101.5 million, while the volumes increased grew by 7.9% to 59,900 MT. Import pf grapes amounted for 295,700 MT (-22.8%) for $324.7 million (-18.3%).

www.a-ipp.ru

Azerbaijan: 99.7% of Tomato Exports Go to Russia

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In January-March 2019, Azerbaijan exported 21,371 MT of tomatoes in the amount of $25.5 million. Compared to the same period in 2018, exports in quantitative terms increased by 7.7%, in value terms – by 6.1%.

The main importer of Azerbaijani tomatoes is Russia. In the first quarter of 2019, 21,303 MT of products were sent to the Russian market, which amounted to 99.7% of total exports, worth $ 25.4 million. Compared with January-March 2018, exports of tomatoes to Russia increased by 7.8% in quantitative terms and 6.3% in terms of value.

It is specified that for the whole 2018 Azerbaijan exported 172,000 MT of tomatoes for the sum of $177.4 million. The main importer of Azerbaijani tomatoes in 2018 was also Russia, which imported 170,000 MT of tomatoes for the sum of $176.3 million

From January to March 2019, exports of Azerbaijani apples to the Russian Federation amounted to 27,500 MT (+ 34.9%) in the amount of $11.3 million (+ 27.5%). The total exports of this type of fruit from Azerbaijan amounted to 29,300 MT worth $12.2 million. Compared to the same period in 2018, exports of apples from Azerbaijan increased by 41.5%, and in money terms – by 35.7% .

For the entire period of 2018, Azerbaijan exported 90,000 MT of apples for $38.4 million. Of these, 82,400 MT of apples worth $ 34.5 million were exported to Russia.

www.freshplaza.com

Russia 2019–2023: Apple Imports will Increase

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In the period from 2014 to 2018, apple imports to the Russian market decreased by 23% from 1.13 to 0.87 million MT.

Among the reasons for the decline in imports, analysts have cited the introduction of Russian counter-sanctions since August 2014 and the devaluation of the ruble, after which foreign products went up in price. The state support of Russian gardening also affected the state of the market. This writes RBC with reference to the data “Analysis of the apple market in Russia,” prepared by BusinesStat.

The change in the reporting period and the structure of imports by supplier countries. So, in 2014, Poland was the main supplier of apples to the Russian market with a share of 37.1%. After the introduction of the pro-bargo, which affected Polish supplies, Belarus became the key importer with a share of 51.4%.

“Supplies of apples to Russia from this country doubled in 2015 compared to 2014 and amounted to 518,000 MT. Russian experts expressed a reasonable opinion that deliveries were made across the Belarusian border from countries in which anti-sanctions were imposed. This was supported by the fact that after the embargo was introduced by Russia, the import of apples to Belarus increased markedly,” the study notes.

In particular, in 2014, Belarusian exports increased by 2.3 times – from 180,500 MT to 414,700 MT, and in 2015 another 76.3% compared to 2014, reaching 731,100 MT. During 2016 and 2017, the volume of Belarusian supplies to Russia decreased. Last year, imports of apples from Belarus to Russia amounted to 81,600 MT.

Last year, Moldova became the main supplier of apples to the Russian market with a volume of 245,800 MT(28.3% of total Russian imports). China ranked second in shipments, sending 128,900 MT of apples to Russia, or 14.8% of total imports. Third place in the ranking of supplier countries was taken by Serbia with a share of 14.5% (125,600 MT). The fourth place was fixed for Azerbaijan (9.5%, or 82,300 MT). Analysts stressed that despite all the efforts of the Government of the Russian Federation, apples from countries that fell under counter sanctions (Poland, Ukraine) continue to enter the Russian market under the guise of Belarusian, Moldovan, Serbian.

www.freshplaza.com

Despite Record Apple Harvest, Russia Continues to Increase its Imports

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Import substitution, which is so much talked about in Russia, has so far not yielded tangible results in the field of horticulture. Despite the very rapid expansion of the area of ​​orchards and an increase in the volume of domestic production of apples, imports of these fruits continue to grow steadily.

In the first two months of 2019, Russia imported 11% more apples than in the same period last year. Moreover, the January volume of apple imports exceeded 161,000 MT and was the highest since 2015, when, by the way, they were comparable to these volumes.

In order to understand how much more apples Russia actually imports, it is necessary to take into account that since 2015 apple consumption in the country has decreased due to four consecutive years of falling real incomes of Russian citizens and the rise in prices of products due to the devaluation of the ruble and the increase in VAT on fruits.

Experts explain this phenomenon easily; the Russian apple is of an inferior quality to its imported counterparts, so the consumer is simply not interested in it. Therefore, Russian growers are forced to sell a significant amount of crop for processing needs at bargain prices. Fortunately, the domestic market for apple concentrate is still quite capacious, and even low, according to Russian growers, prices for industrial apple are relatively high for other countries, such as Ukraine, Poland and Moldova.

However, this situation calls into question the prospects for further investment in new gardens in Russia. Protective measures, as practice shows, can do a disservice to Russian growers. After all, consumers demand quality products, which they mostly cannot yet provide.

And according to east-fruit.com¸ even a ban on the supply of apples from the EU, the USA and Ukraine, which can give a really high-quality product, does not guarantee any protection. As soon as the apple re-export channel closes through Belarus, the import of apples to Russia from non-sub-Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Macedonia and Georgia immediately grows. These countries also became the leaders in the growth rate of apple supplies to the Russian market in the first two months of 2019.

www.freshplaza.com

Apples Imports to Russia in 2018

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Russia remains one of the biggest apples importers in the world. In total in 2018, Russia imported 844,000 MT of apples amounted to $517.4 million, while it exported 11,700 MT of $4.11 million.

The main countries exporting fresh apples to Russia are Serbia (20.7%) and Moldova (20.5%). China ranks third with 16.5%.

Russia also imported fresh apples from Iran (7.3%), Turkey (7.2%), Azerbaijan (6.7%), Chile (5%), Belarus (3.4%), South Africa (3.4%), Argentina (3%), Brazil (2%), New Zealand (2.8%), Macedonia (1.2%) and other countries.

www.azernews.az