Moldova exports

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

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

Moldovan apple exports far behind compared to 2020

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The Customs Service of the Republic of Moldova has stated that, in January-February 2021, about 28,000 mt of apples were exported from the country. In the same period last year, Moldovan apple export volumes were significantly higher, at almost 54,000 mt.

According to the local organizations of agricultural producers and exporters, in the first half of March 2021, the export of apples to the main markets (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan) has not yet intensified. But the prices started to rise – on average by 0.5-1.5 MDL/kg.

Based on the monitoring of EastFruit, by the beginning of this week, wholesale prices for apples of the Renet Simirenko and Idared varieties ranged from 8.5-11.5 MDL / kg ($0.48-0.65/kg), “Golden Delicious”, “Jonagold” and “Granny Smith”- 10.0-12.5 MDL ($0.57-0.71/kg).

How this situation will develop in April is not yet clear. Optimists believe that in April the Russian stocks of apples will finally run out. Instead of importing Polish and Ukrainian apples through risky channels, Russian traders will consider it a safer option to legally import Moldovan apples of comparable (or, in extreme cases, marginally inferior) quality at a slightly higher price.

Something similar happened last year, when in April supplies of apples from Moldova to Russia increased by 10 thousand mt compared to the previous month – to almost 39 thousand mt. Although in some of the past 5 years, March was the month with the highest export volumes for the Moldovan Apples.

www.freshplaza.com

Geography Narrowed and Export Volumes Decreased for Moldovan Grapes in 2020

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According to data from the National Agency for Food Safety (ANSA), as of mid-December this year, slightly more than 48,000 mt of table grapes were exported from Moldova to 22 countries. Due to the reduction in prices for the main export grape variety Moldova, this indicator will not change significantly by the end of 2020. In 2019, local exporters sent almost 79,000 mt of grapes to 29 countries.

Comparing this year to last year’s figures, the export volumes of Moldovan grapes have decreased in virtually all countries. There was a significant reduction in supplies to Belarus (from 5,400 mt to 1,790 mt ), Iraq (from 2,110 mt to 286 mt ), Romania (from 18,650 mt to 10,720 mt ), and Ukraine (from 7,900 mt to 4,200 mt ). The volume of exports increased only to Poland from 1,580 mt to 1,700 mt.

Members of the Moldovan Table Grape Producers Association note there are still a lot of products in the refrigerated warehouses of vineyards in the thousands of tons. These are mostly the highest quality grapes that they intended to sell in December at a high price. However, from the middle of this month, the price of even high-quality grapes has not significantly increased. Taking this into account, the association’s experts forecast for price dynamics in the first half of January 2021 is not optimistic.

www.east-fruit.com