According to the Customs Services of Republic of Moldova, in April 2021 about 20 thousand tons of fresh apples were exported from the country. According to EastFruit analysts, it represents a slight increase compared to March 2021 when a bit more than 17 thousand tons of apples got shipped abroad. In January-February 2021 combined only around 28 thousand tons of Moldovan apples were exported.
While seasonal export pattern is preserved, volumes of apple exports have dropped sharply compared to 2020. In March 2020 Moldova exported 30 thousand tons and in March and 2019 – around 41 thousand tons of apples. In April 2020 and 2019 apple exports reached 39 and 35 thousand tons, respectively. In means that in the spring of 2021 exports were around half of these in the same period of the the previous years.
As EastFruit analysts mentioned earlier, many of the problems Moldova is facing in Russia are caused by the expansion of Iran, which might become a leading global supplier of fresh apples in 2020/21.
Exporters and growers were happy to see even a slight increase in exports in April 2021. Although volumes of sales this spring were disappointingly low, market players were not sure there would be any demand at all, and they fully depend on one market only – the Russian Federation. Traders think that the April exports could have been higher if they had significantly reduced prices. However, in April 2021 the average prices for Moldovan apples offered to exporters remained unchanged at $0.50-0.67 USD per kg.
In May 2021, some traders noted a slight recovery in demand for red coloured apple varieties in Russia. As a result, the domestic market of Moldova reacted with a small – up to 1 MDL/kg (around 5-6 US cets) – increase in prices for relatively high-quality apples of the cheap Idared variety.
The use of the site materials is free if there is a direct and open for search engines hyperlink to a specific publication of the East-Fruit.com website.
