Uzbekistan fruits and vegetables to China falls 40%

According to EastFruit, analysts noticed a sharp decline in fruit exports from Uzbekistan to China, which is considered a good alternative to Russian market. From January to July, 2020, the volume of exports of Uzbek fruits and vegetables to China decreased by 44% to $19 Million USD.

The sharpest decline was in fresh cherries. Uzbekistan was able to export to China only a little over 100 tons of cherries in 2020 season, while in 2019, Uzbek was shipping more than 600 tons to China. The main reason, according to market participants, was a decrease in production of sweet cherries in Uzbekistan in 2020 due to spring frosts, problems with product quality, logistics, and the ripening of cherries fell on the period of strict quarantine measures due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Moreover, the export of Uzbek raisin also dropped dramatically, the supply of raisin to China from Uzbekistan was 13.7 thousand tons in January to July 2019, to 5.9 thousand tons in the same period of 2020. It is worth nothing that despite the sharp decline in raisin exports, Uzbekistan is still able to maintain its leadership in the ranking of the main supplier of raisins to China, competing with United States, Chile and Turkey.