Ukrainian watermelon producers have found an opportunity to raise their selling prices, as evidenced by the daily monitoring data from the EastFruit project. Market analysts attribute the price increase in this segment to the reduced supply of watermelons from local farms. Due to high air temperatures and a prolonged drought persisting for several weeks in most regions of the country, some of the watermelon harvest has been lost in the fields.
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As of today, producers are able to sell watermelons at 7-15 UAH/kg ($0.17-0.36/kg), which is on average 23% higher than at the end of last week. However, market players view this situation as temporary. According to them, once harvesting activities resume, the supply of watermelons in the market will increase, leading to a rapid price decline. Moreover, due to sunburn damage, the quality of watermelons in the fields has noticeably deteriorated, which means the percentage of substandard produce that farmers will rush to sell will significantly increase. The supply of watermelons in the domestic market could also rise as some farms in the central and western regions are just beginning mass harvesting.
It is worth noting that despite the price increase, watermelons in Ukraine are currently offered at prices averaging 52% lower than in the second half of July 2023.
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