The prices of cucumbers are not giving up

In a "normal" season, the second half of August is a period when the Polish fresh cucumber market begins to move out of the peak supply phase. Wholesale prices of these vegetables start to strengthen, usually with the upward trend not particularly dynamic until the end of the first decade of September.

However, the current season deviates from the typical scenario in the most extreme way imaginable. Just a month ago, few could have imagined the price reality on the wholesale market of fresh cucumbers that we are currently experiencing.

We are faced with a true collapse in the availability of these vegetables. A supply crisis has pushed cucumber prices in the Polish wholesale market to astronomical levels. The selling prices of greenhouse cucumbers are currently as high as 7.00-9.00 PLN/kg (1.63-2.10 EUR/kg) in large wholesale quantities. As seen in the chart below, this year's price fluctuations have taken on a completely eccentric shape..

The high prices of greenhouse cucumbers are driven by shortages in the supply of field cucumbers, which should be abundant in the summer. However, due to the disastrous impact of weather conditions on this year's open-field cucumber crops, we have not just a gap but a gaping supply hole in this segment of the cucumber market. Wholesale prices of field cucumbers are currently 3.00-6.00 PLN/kg (0.70-1.40 EUR/kg) for pickling cucumbers and 3.50-7.00 PLN/kg (0.82-1.63 EUR/kg) for canning cucumbers.

This is slightly less than last week, as August weather is not as hot as July, and the current harvest has increased slightly. Especially in some regions of the country where there are many open-field cucumber crops. There, prices at the farmers have dropped even to 1.50-2.50 PLN/kg (0.35-0.58 EUR/kg) for pickling cucumbers. But nationally, the cucumber supply situation is still very poor. In small wholesale markets and local exchanges, prices for these cucumbers still reach 9.00 PLN/kg (2.10 EUR/kg).

Will the consequence of this situation be cucumber imports into Poland in the middle of summer? Well, we already have an answer to that question, as offers for the sale of imported field cucumbers from Turkey at a price of 3.00 PLN/kg (0.70 EUR/kg) have just appeared. Additionally, we most likely have greenhouse cucumbers from Russia on our market, which is becoming more common.