The fruit sector of Moldova’s season is summarized by experts from AgroExpert.md. They focus on grapes and their production, export, processing, and consumption.
Production. The grape growing period mostly occurred under favorable weather conditions, according to experts from Moldova’s grape associations.
The table grape sector, like the rest of the country’s fruit growing, was negatively affected by the drought, but it was not severe. Additionally, some grape regions in Moldova’s south experienced heavy rains in August, which had not happened for many years. The soil moisture reserves were replenished during this time, which positively impacted the yield.
The grapes’ quality this year is inconsistent (as usual). The size of the bunches and berries on non-irrigated plantations was reduced by the drought. Some vineyards missed the opportunity to prevent diseases due to rainfall or cost-cutting (but this issue did not become critical or widespread). However, a high-quality and high-yield harvest was collected this year on intensive vineyards of the Pergola type (which cover more than 400 ha).
Here is what to pay attention to. It is impossible to estimate the volume of commercial table grapes in the country accurately since most of the production is concentrated in small farms that usually process plantations of less than 5 ha.
The harvest of table grape varieties in 2023 was estimated by experts to be 100-110 thousand tons, which is similar to the previous year. Moldova harvested about 85 thousand tons of grapes in 2021, 70 thousand tons in 2020, 112 thousand tons in 2019, and 126 thousand tons in 2018 (the highest figure in five years).
Processing. Surprisingly, the purchase of table grape varieties was a significant factor in maintaining stability (at least psychologically) in the table grape segment in the previous two seasons. Wineries bought a total of 8-10 thousand tons of table grape varieties per year, according to expert estimates, sometimes at fairly high prices, up to 5-7 lei/kg, and on average about 4 lei/kg.
However, at the beginning of 2023, most winemaking companies informed the grape farms that they would not accept table grapes for processing in the new season or that they would buy them at minimal prices and only a small amount of such raw materials from partner firms due to the large unsold stocks of wine of a certain category. This news had a positive effect: at least some table grape producers focused on working only on the “fresh market” and tried to grow high-quality grapes.
Export. From the beginning of the current marketing year (from August) to October 2023, the country exported 30.5 thousand tons of table grapes, including 21.7 thousand tons in October, according to the data of the customs service of the Republic of Moldova and the associations of fruit growers. For comparison: 22 thousand tons were exported in the same period of 2022, including 13.6 thousand tons in October.
Ukraine and Romania were the largest buyers of Moldovan grapes in the summer of 2023, with 819 tons and 765 tons, respectively. In September – October, Moldova exported the most grapes to the Russian, Kazakhstani, and Belarusian markets, with 8.9 thousand tons, 1.1 thousand tons, and 1 thousand tons, respectively, as well as to Romania, with 6.9 thousand tons, Poland, with 2.2 thousand tons, and Latvia, with 825 tons. The export shares of this product to the CIS and the EU plus other European markets are still about 50/50 in the current marketing year.
The first half of autumn saw high exports of Moldovan grapes (directly from plantations, without going through fruit storage facilities), according to analysts from EastFruit. This was because of two reasons: first, foreign buyers had a high demand for them; second, products from non-irrigated plantations had a low shelf life due to the drought. In November, only grapes from storage facilities were exported, mainly of the late “Moldova” variety, which mostly came from irrigated intensive vineyards. However, the grape export rate did not decrease as much as expected.
It is likely that due to the high purchase prices for grapes for export, Moldova will send more grapes to foreign markets in November-December 2023 than in the same period last year (about 26 thousand tons).
Meanwhile, market operators say that 10-15 thousand tons of grapes from this year’s harvest will be left in storage facilities for the winter-spring period of 2024. In January-April 2023, Moldova exported 12 thousand tons, in the same period of 2022 – 24 thousand tons, and in 2021 – 20 thousand tons of grapes from the previous year’s harvest.
In 2022, Moldova exported almost 74 thousand tons of table grapes, and in 2021 – 67 thousand tons. In the marketing (August-April) 2022/23 year, exports reached 61 thousand tons, and in MG 2021/22 – 72 thousand tons.
Read also: How Moldova’s apple industry fares in MY 2023/24: review and outlook
Domestic market. The domestic market for table grapes in Moldova is a topic full of myths. On one hand, there is a stereotype that the country’s population consumes a lot of this product. On the other hand, some experts say that in the “high season”, when the consumption of table grapes is at its peak, only 10-15 tons of this product are sold per day on the wholesale-retail market of Chisinau. As a result, it can be estimated that the domestic fresh market of Moldova consumes no more than 15-20 thousand tons of commercial grapes of table varieties per year.
Conclusions
Various factors – political, economic, logistical, climatic, social, etc. – are causing the fruit sector of Moldovan fruit growing to undergo a significant and rapid transformation.
The apple segment, which is the largest, is declining in both area and volume. This process may slow down in the near short-term future, but it is unlikely to stop completely. As the sales markets diversify (redirecting the export commodity flow from the CIS to other regions of the world), the amount of apple exports will decrease, but their price will increase. Farmers will also try to make the most of the available post-harvest infrastructure, especially the large storage capacities. As a result, the periods of the most active export sales will move further – to the second half or, possibly, the last third of the MY. And the most important thing: the apple segment of fruit growing will gradually shift from the fresh market to the processing segment.
The plum segment, which was a “mediocre player who did not achieve much”, is quickly rising to the forefront. It is possible that, in terms of physical volumes of external supplies, if not in financial terms, plum will soon match apple in the short-term future. The fact that the diversification of Moldovan plum exports does not lead to a reduction in the total volume of supplies is noteworthy. The plum segment is also supported by diversified processing. While apple is only processed into concentrate and chips (a small amount), plum is used to produce puree-paste, compotes, dried fruits whole and segmented, liqueurs and strong alcoholic beverages, and frozen products. Prices for industrial plum also vary widely depending on its purpose, which encourages farmers to look for alternatives and improve the quality of their products.
The grape segment (at least in the current MY) has the advantage of low competition in the CIS market (grape countries of Central Asia were severely affected by spring frosts and harvested little products). In 2023, due to frosts/floods/droughts, many European countries harvested a relatively small amount of grapes, which accounts for the high demand for Moldovan table grapes of even seeded varieties. But this will not last forever. In the future, grape growers of Moldova should actively re-profile their assortment (switching to seedless varieties) and systematically improve the quality of their products.
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