The 2025 export season for fresh sweet cherries from Uzbekistan is expected to be significantly shorter than in previous years, with market participants forecasting its conclusion by June 15–20. This is roughly a month earlier than last year, according to experts at EastFruit.
Industry sources report that over the past week, shipments of fresh cherries from Uzbekistan to international markets have become sporadic, and the domestic market now has very limited volumes available for export. Preliminary estimates suggest that this year’s export season will last only 1 to 1.5 months—nearly half the duration of last year’s. For comparison, in 2024, Uzbekistan’s cherry export season spanned more than two months, from early May to mid-July, EastFruit analysts note.
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Farrukh Abdukhalimov, a representative of the Spanish breeding company PSB Produccion Vegetal in Uzbekistan, highlights two key reasons behind the shortened season:
“Firstly, the harvest shifted to earlier dates this year. In late April and the first half of May, Uzbekistan experienced abnormally high temperatures for the season, which significantly accelerated the ripening of stone fruits, including sweet cherries. Although the timing shift varied among early-, mid-, and late-ripening varieties, it ultimately affected all cherry types.
Secondly, due to exceptionally high demand for Uzbek cherries on international markets, the post-harvest cold storage period was notably shorter than in previous years. In most commercial orchards, cherry crops had already been contracted for export before harvesting even began. As a result, shipments were made shortly after the fruit was picked.
By contrast, in the second half of June last year, there were still sizable volumes of export-grade fresh cherries available in cold storage, whereas now, such reserves are nearly nonexistent,” the expert explains.
Abdukhalimov adds that the harvest of late-ripening cherry varieties in Uzbekistan will be completed by mid-June, and the export season is likely to end around June 15–20 this year.
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