According to the price monitoring data of the EastFruit information and analytical platform, today Ukrainian farmers are ready to ship onions for no cheaper than UAH 5-9/kg ($0.10-0.20/kg). Key market players attribute the current price growth to seasonal depletion of stocks in local farms, as well as increased purchasing activity on the part of wholesale companies.
Despite the price increase, the demand for these products remains quite high in conditions of supply shortage, especially for quality onions. The majority of farms have already sold their existing volumes, and those market participants who have certain stocks of proper quality products expect further price growth in this segment.
At the same time, despite the current price growth, onions in Ukraine are still on average 68% cheaper than in the same period last year. According to market participants, positive price trends in this segment will continue until the mass arrival of new crop onions from local farms.
Why is it important for the fruit and vegetable market of Moldova?
As previously reported by Logos Press, in the second half of April, the Moldovan market is largely dependent on onion supplies from Ukraine due to the reduction of local stocks of quality onions. Moreover, there are no alternatives yet due to very expensive transportation logistics.
In the first half of April, the price of onions in Ukraine was about one third lower than in Moldova (on the local market its wholesale price has stabilized in the range of 3-4 lei/kg). Accordingly, export of this Ukrainian product to the Moldovan market was economically feasible. Now, with the rapid rise in the price of onions in Ukraine, the profitability of such supplies for Ukrainian suppliers is decreasing. Consequently, further development of events is possible under two scenarios.
The first one is a sharp increase in onion prices in Moldova and, against this background, preservation of its rhythmic supply from Ukraine – until the new harvest.
The second – slow but constant increase in prices for onions, periodic limited supplies from Ukraine. In this scenario, most likely, there will be a further reduction in the quality of onions in Moldovan retail. Perhaps, there will be a noticeable differentiation of prices for onions of low and high quality.
