According to EastFruit analysts, Ukraine was the largest supplier of apples to the Uzbek market in January 2023, despite the ongoing Russian military aggression, complex and expensive logistics, and the multiple difficulties that Ukrainian growers face now.
In January 2023, apple exports from Ukraine to Uzbekistan reached 360 tonnes and exceeded the export volume in January 2022 by 24%, when Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine had not yet begun. It is interesting to note that Ukrainian apples ousted the apples from Iran, Moldova, and Turkey from the Uzbek market in January. Deliveries of fresh apples from these countries to Uzbekistan fell by 32 times, 3 times, and 4 times, respectively.
By the way, Poland almost caught up with Ukraine in terms of apple supplies to Uzbekistan in January, having exported 351 tonnes of apples to this distant, but very profitable market.
As EastFruit wholesale price monitoring shows, wholesale prices for fresh Golden Delicious apples in Ukraine and Poland in January 2023 were three or more times lower than in Uzbekistan. At the same time, prices in Moldova were slightly higher than in Ukraine and Poland. In February 2023, apple prices in Uzbekistan continued to rise, but remained stable in Ukraine and Poland, making exports to Uzbekistan even more profitable.
It should be noted that in December 2022, Ukraine exported 274 tonnes of fresh apples to Uzbekistan, and 39 tonnes in November, when there were still a lot of local cheap apples on the Uzbek market.
In 2022, the exports of Ukrainian apples to Uzbekistan reached their peak in February-April, when more than 1 500 tonnes of fresh Ukrainian apples were exported to this Central Asian country within three months.
Source: East Fruit