According to the National Food Safety Agency (ANSA), Moldova exported only 6 thousand tons of table grapes of the 2021 harvest from early July to late September. The top-5 importers of Moldovan table grapes in this period were Russia – 2.72 thousand tons, Romania – 1.57 thousand tons, Belarus – 675 tons, Poland – 508 tons and Ukraine – 420 tons. Also in 2021, Moldova exported 18.1 thousand tons of table grapes of the last year’s harvest (to Russia – 9.1 thousand tons, Romania – 4.5 thousand tons, Iraq – 1.33 thousand tons, Ukraine – 1.31 thousand tons, Turkey – 550 tons, Poland – 525 tons). According to a preliminary estimate of the Ministry of Agriculture (MADRM), the volume of export deliveries of Moldovan table grapes exceeded $40 million in dollar terms this year.
Experts of the Association of Producers and Exporters of Table Grapes of Moldova (APESM) note in this regard that most of the exports of last year’s table grapes in 2021 were done in February. In terms of price, the most profitable were deliveries to Romania. In their opinion, the sales season of grapes of the 2020 harvest “ended better than expected, given the imperfect quality of grapes stored in the dry last year.”
Sales of table grapes of the new harvest are still far behind the schedule of the previous two years, representatives of the APESM say. In September, due to the late ripening of Moldova table grapes, the demand for products of export quality and volume significantly exceeded the supply.
Peak harvesting of table grapes “Moldova” in the southern regions of the country began last week, in the central regions – this week. Exporting traders offer (excluding the price of box) 8-11 MDL/kg ($0.45-0.62/kg). This corresponds to the September range of wholesale prices for Moldova grapes last year. Taking into account long ripening period of table grapes and, accordingly, the shortened period of harvesting, APESM experts recommend that winegrowers step up the negotiations with traders.
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