Industrial plums - what are the purchasing prices?

The 2024 plum processing season started off with a bang. The prices of these fruits at the beginning of the campaign were high, exceeding even 3.00 PLN/kg, which is approximately 0.70 EUR/kg. However, this situation lasted very briefly and only applied to a minimal volume of plums. Soon after, there was a very dynamic decrease in industrial plum purchase prices, parallel to the decline in the fresh market. Now, the situation in this sector of the fruit processing market has stabilized. Industrial plum prices have ranged from 1.00 to 1.60 PLN/kg, which is about 0.23 to 0.37 EUR/kg since the end of last month, depending primarily on the fruit's destination. Prices at the upper end of the mentioned range are offered for fruits for alcohol production. It seems that the previous downward trend has been firmly halted.

What does this mean for the relative purchase prices of industrial plums compared to previous years? The comparison is quite difficult because we must consider that usually plum purchases only started in the first week of August, while now we are already in the mature phase of the campaign. In general, it can be said that current prices are not bad compared to what we have seen in previous seasons. Last year, the season started with prices averaging 0.85 PLN/kg (0.20 EUR/kg) from August 10th, two years ago it was 0.75 PLN/kg (0.17 EUR/kg), and three years ago it was 0.70 PLN/kg (0.16 EUR/kg) on average. The current average price is 1.30 PLN/kg (0.30 EUR/kg), clearly higher.

Last year, after a rather weak start, the plum processing season gained momentum. Demand began to strengthen, and prices started to rise. At their peak, prices even exceeded 1.50 PLN/kg (0.35 EUR/kg). Will we see a repeat of this upward scenario this year? It is very likely, considering that plum yields are expected to be 16% lower than in 2023.