Apple exports will be difficult for polish companies this year

2021-10-21 10:51

Something is beginning to happen in the export of Polish apples, but for now it is more about looking for buyers, establishing old contacts, probing for regular customers, in a word, activities that will only possibly bring some trade. For the time being, there are still few physical exports of apples.

For Polish growers and exporters, this season will be a huge challenge. And it is not because of a larger harvest, even if such forecasts are confirmed, although when it comes to the net harvest (what goes on sale), many market players claim that there will not be so many apples at all. The main problem for us this season will be the attitude of Belarus, which is going the way of Russia and using trade as a political weapon and, to spite us, "defrosting the ears" of its citizens, who are facing lower supply and higher prices.

Last year, Belarus was the leading buyer of Polish apples, importing over 121,000 tonnes for 204 million zlotys. If there is a shortage of such buyers this year, the industry will feel it very strongly. Germany, second last year, bought 76,000 tonnes of apples in Poland and Egypt, third, bought 75,000 tonnes, and these countries and no others will compensate for the loss of the Belarusian market. Just as nothing has so far compensated for the loss of the Russian market.

Logistics and their costs will also be a challenge this season. However, it should be noted that these will hit long-distance exporters the hardest, while those trading "in the neighbourhood" will gain in relative terms. In this context, the biggest losers of the increase in costs in this area and of the fuss about containers are China and, in relation to the European market, generally countries of the southern hemisphere.

On the other hand, the factors favouring Polish exports include the persistently weaker zloty. And then there are the prices. The prices at which traders are currently buying dessert apples are very low. Offers for Idared are as low as 0.25 PLN/kg! Red varieties such as Ligol or Šampion are priced at 0.70 PLN/kg, and there are also offers of 0.60 PLN/kg. Only Gala and Golden in bigger calibres are priced above 1 PLN.

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