Apples from Ukraine: Low Production and Price Increase

Published 2019년 10월 7일

This year, apple production in Ukraine is expected to decrease significantly compared to 2018. Due to the low production volume, the price of Ukrainian apple has increased sharply in 2019 and further price increases are expected.

Price and Production

In 2018, Ukraine had a record production volume of apples. Around 600K tons of apples were available for the market in 2018, which was an increase of 150K tons from 2017. Due to the record volume in Ukraine along with overall increased production in the Europian Union, the apple prices were very low in 2018. The price of apples in Ukraine ranged between 5 UAH and 6 UAH per kg (0.20 USD and 0.24 USD per kg).

However, throughout 2019, the price of apples in Ukraine is expected to increase significantly as production volume is expected to be much lower compared to last year: production volume is expected to be around 300K tons, according to AgroStar, a Ukranian apple exporter. The production decline is due to two main reasons. Firstly, apple crops were damaged by hail storm in the first half of 2019. Secondly, due to record production in 2018, “apple trees in Ukraine are in a resting period this year”, states Ruslan Palamarchuk from AgroStar.

The current price of apples is 12 UAH per kg (0.48 USD per kg), which is around 100% higher compared to last year, and producers are expecting the price to increase even further. As a result, many apple producers are choosing to keep their apples in storage until further price increases manifest since apples can be stored up to 6 months.

Global Market

The main export destinations for Ukrainian apples are Belarus and Moldova due to their proximity. However, the target markets for AgroStar are the UAE and Bangladesh. The main apple variety exported to these two countries is the Royal Gala variety.

Currently, the price of apples in China is increasing due to the US-China trade war. This presents opportunities to apple exporters, as China is looking for other import options other than the US due to the ongoing trade war; in 2018, the US was one of the main apple exporting countries to China. Ukraine, however, currently does not have a protocol with China to export apples.