What about the prices of cucumbers?
The second decade of July brought a deepening gap in the supply of cucumbers in the Polish markets. The problems particularly affected the field cucumber segment, and the reason for these setbacks were, of course, agrometeorological conditions. They had a negative impact on field cucumber yields - both directly, disrupting the growth of these vegetables, and indirectly, through increased pressure from fungal diseases and pests.
However, even in the greenhouse cucumber segment, a decrease in current supply was noticeable. So significant that it pushed the prices of these cucumbers to a record high level in wholesale. This trend was, of course, supported by the shortage of field cucumbers. Between July 12 and 24, the average selling price of greenhouse cucumbers in wholesale increased by a staggering 63 percent, reaching the level of 5.30 PLN/kg (1.24 EUR/kg).
As seen in our chart, there was a slight corrective downturn in recent days. However, it was minor and did not fundamentally change the market situation, where the dominant pricing factor continues to be the supply shortage. Currently, the selling prices of short greenhouse cucumbers in wholesale mostly range from 4.00-6.00 PLN/kg (0.93-1.40 EUR/kg).
The weather has eased up on the heat lately, so we can expect further price corrections in this cucumber market segment, although it will still not be cheap, as the losses in field cucumber yields are significant and cannot be fully recovered. This is evident from the very high prices of open-field cucumbers for this time of year.
Currently, the prices of these vegetables in wholesale exceed 5.00 PLN/kg (1.17 EUR/kg) for pickling and canning grades. The upper limit of the range is already above 7.00 PLN/kg (1.63 EUR/kg). Just about a week ago, the purchase prices for these cucumbers were at the level of 3.00-4.00 PLN/kg (0.70-0.93 EUR/kg). Only large grades (for salads) maintained relatively low prices at 1.20-1.40 PLN/kg (0.28-0.33 EUR/kg), as weather conditions led to these cucumbers having a relatively large share in the current yield.