According to EastFruit analysts, in the first eight months of 2021 Belarus imported a record volume of carrots for this period in recent years. In total, 9.2 thousand tons of carrots were imported, which is 4.7 times more than in the same period in 2020. Nevertheless, Belarus remained a net exporter of carrots, since exports significantly exceeded imports.
Why would Belarus import carrots if it itself exported them in large volumes? The answer should be sought in the structure of imports and exports of these goods.
Ukraine became the main supplier of carrots to the Belarusian market and supplied about 85% of all carrots. The peak of supplies fell on June 2021, when Belarus bought 4 thousand tons of carrots from Ukraine. Almost the entire volume of imports was made from April to July.
As you know, carrot prices were record-breaking at that time in Russia, and social networks were full of memes about the sky-high prices for carrots and beets in the country.
Another well-known fact is that Ukraine cannot supply carrots directly to Russia. Probably, Belarus helped here. As you can see on the EastFruit price monitoring chart, the difference in wholesale prices for carrots in Ukraine and Russia was quite high back in March 2021, but it increased sharply in April. In June it became almost threefold.
Naturally, 100% of the carrots exported from Belarus this year were sent to Russia. By the way, Belarus did not export a single kilogram of carrots to Ukraine and Moldova in the first eight months of 2021, unlike previous years.
The situation on the market has changed in the new season, after the start of the peak harvesting of carrots. Here prices in Belarus were already higher than in Russia. Therefore, it is possible that the import of carrots to Belarus from Ukraine in August 2021 was intended for the local market, because carrots on the Russian market were sold much cheaper than on the Belarusian one, and Ukraine still offered the lowest prices.
The market situation has leveled off by mid-October 2021 and the wholesale prices for carrots in Russia and Belarus are almost equal now. The price difference has significantly decreased, but Ukraine continues to offer cheaper carrots. The supply of carrots from Ukraine to Belarus was still very profitable and they were exported in September, according to trade sources.
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