According to EastFruit, based on the preliminary data from the Customs Service of Moldova, in November the country exported only 7.8 thousand tons of fresh apples earning juts over US $4 million in revenue. This is one of the weakest results for November in the recent five years. Only in November 2022 and 2020, exports were lower – 7.1 thousand tons and 6.7 thousand tons, respectively. The maximum November apple exports from Moldova were noted in 2021 and reached 22.5 thousand tons.
In November 2023 most of the apples from Moldova went exported to the former CIS countries – 5.7 thousand tons. This includes shipments to Russia of 2.8 thousand tons and Kazakhstan – 2.6 thousand tons. Just under 1 thousand tons of Moldovan apples were exported to the European Union of which most – 731 tons went to Romania.
After recent Russian embargo on fruits and vegetables from Moldova, which is effective from December 4, 2023 the official exports of apples from Moldova to the Russian market will obviously stop. Re-exporting apples through third countries is likely to be very expensive but since Russia does not really have alternative suppliers of similar size, they will likely continue.
However, Moldovan traders will actively look for new opportunities to export fresh apples to the European Union and first of all to the neighboring Romania. Also, it is expected that search of new buyers for Moldovan apples in the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia will be intensified.
At the same time, it is likely that a significant share of Moldovan apples from the 2023 harvest will be sent to local processors to produce apple concentrate in the spring and summer of 2024. Two years ago about 40 thousand tons of apples were processed in Moldova as local farmers and traders could not find buyers on the fresh market for this volume.
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