There are several reasons for this, they are interrelated, and among them it is hardly possible to single out the main one. First, this year, according to Moldova Fruct forecast, the apple harvest in RM (about 280 thousand tons) is expected to be about 30% lower than in 2024 (according to statistical data – 404.6 thousand tons).
Secondly, since the second half of summer, Moldova has been exporting apple in fresh form quite actively (for this period of the season). According to EastFruit price monitoring data, wholesale prices for “fresh” apple are the highest for August-September in the five-year period. But, more importantly, during that period this year, the price is about 7-10% higher than last year. That is, the distance between the price of the “frosh” apple and the industrial apple is increasing in the early fall of 2025.
Thirdly, at the start of the season of processing of apple of fall varieties, Moldovan processors offer farmers a relatively low price for this raw material. But it depends on what to compare it with. According to feedback from the heads of enterprises belonging to the Association of Fruit and Vegetable Processors Speranța Con, factories pay an average of 3.5 lei/kg (about 0.16-0.17 euros/kg) for industrial apple of the new harvest. Last year, the purchase price started at 4 lei/kg, during the season the “working” price (of most transactions) was in the unprecedented high range of 5-6 lei/kg. But it was the season of historically highest prices for apple concentrate practically all over the world.
At the beginning of the current season the situation on the apple concentrate market is already different – the demand has decreased, the prices have fallen. Accordingly, concentrate producers do not intend to pay the previous high purchase price for industrial apple. At least not yet. Nevertheless, as the industrial apple market operators note, “historically, the price for this product above 0.15 Euro/kg is a good price, higher than the long-term average price in Europe”.
Read more in Friday’s edition of the weekly Logos Press
