Contradictory information from industrial apple purchase points.
The end of the 34th week brought, quite commonly, on the demand side in the apple processing sector, an expectation that the following week would bring a reversal of earlier price declines. Orchard owners believed that in conditions of limited raw material supply and high demand forced by processors, purchase price corrections would not be sustainable. Were they right?
Undoubtedly, they were correct in assessing the supply realities. Although apple harvests in Poland are increasing in scale, the supply of fruit for processing remains significantly behind the current demand. And this demand is very high. This can also be seen in the number of purchase offers from the industry. However, the current week did not bring clear confirmation of the expectations formulated by orchard owners. Contradictory information is coming from the market in this regard.
On one hand, indeed, many purchasing centers that lowered prices last week have now raised them. But not enough to completely offset the previous discount. This phenomenon mainly concerns the regular industry and to a lesser extent the dried fruit industry. However, this week saw a decrease in apple purchase prices for processing. Just a few days ago, the price was 1.30-1.40 PLN/kg (0.30-0.33 EUR/kg), but now there are purchases offering only 0.95 PLN/kg (0.22 EUR/kg) for this raw material. The upper limit of the range is 1.30 PLN/kg (0.30 EUR/kg). Apple prices for peeling remain at 1.30 PLN/kg (0.30 EUR/kg) most often. Currently, in this segment, companies are looking for the Ligol variety.
On the other hand, prices in the regular industry have increased on average by 3 percent to a level of 0.92-1.00 PLN/kg (0.21-0.23 EUR/kg), depending on the region of the country. It is more expensive where processing plants are concentrated and cheaper where the raw material has to be collected from producers. Prices in the dried fruit industry have increased to 0.96-1.10 PLN/kg (0.22-0.26 EUR/kg), or by about 4 percent.