Industrial apples - prices have affected exports.
Since the beginning of this year, we have had three attempts to lower the prices of industrial apple purchases in Poland, undertaken by processing plants. And although each of them proved to be effective in a relatively short period of time and within a limited monetary scope, undoubtedly each was financially beneficial for the processing plants. It's better to buy cheaper, even for a few days. This leads to tangible savings compared to the situation where one would have to buy at prices before the reduction.
Therefore, it can be expected that such attempts will be made again. How effective will they be? This also depends largely on the resilience of the growers. However, it is known that there is not a lot of apples and most growers are aware of this. The most likely scenario is one in which the next corrections will not be long-lasting again, and the pressure of limited raw material supply will prevail.
When can we expect another attempt? Perhaps soon. Especially since Polish industrial apples are now being pushed out of the German market due to their relatively high prices. Harvests in Belgium mean that there is currently plenty of regrowth during the preparation of deliveries to the fresh market, and such apples are finding their way into the German industry, especially in the western states. It wins with lower transport costs. However, this is a transitional situation because when dessert apples go into storage, the stream of rejects will dry up for a longer period. And the demand for raw materials in Germany is just as strong as in Poland.
Currently, the purchase prices for ordinary industry apples range from 1.05 to 1.20 PLN/kg with a tendency to push the lower limit of this range upwards. This is a record high level of prices compared to previous years, as we have already reported on the pages of fresh-market.pl. In the last season, a correction attempt took place in November. The average purchase price of ordinary industry apples decreased from 0.83 PLN/kg to 0.78-0.80 PLN/kg and lasted until the end of November 2023. What will happen now?