Ukrainian producers have once again increased the selling prices of potatoes this week, according to EastFruit.
The Ukrainian potato prices have already risen to 15-20 UAH/kg ($0.39-0.52/kg.), which is 11% higher on average than fixed at the end of 2023.
The latest price hike in this segment is linked to the overall decline in potato supply from local farms in Ukraine. Lacking the facilities for long-term storage, many Ukrainian farmers sold out their potatoes in the first half of the current season.
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Wholesale companies are also struggling to find high-quality potatoes from local farms. In turn, farmers blame the poor quality of potatoes on the adverse weather conditions during the harvest: heavy rains not only damaged the appearance of potatoes, but also reduced their shelf life. In addition, growers complain about substandard seed potatoes they used in 2023.
Thus, current selling prices of potatoes in Ukraine are on average 3.9 times as high as those fixed in early January 2023. Furthermore, many market players expect the prices to rise even faster in the near future, driven by the news of a possible shortage of high-quality potatoes in the Ukrainian market.
