Thus, last month the country exported almost 11 thousand tons of apples. For January, taking into account the long winter holidays and technical failure of the system of activation and accounting of euro quota selection, this is not a bad result. However, it is lower than last year by 800 tons. The maximum volume of January exports of apples from Moldova was observed in 2018 and 2021 – more than 19 thousand tons.
As traders note, the intensity of Moldovan apple exports traditionally increased in February this year. Traders explain it by the increased demand in Belarus and Russia. However, as of the last decade of February, there is no “explosive exports” yet.
Traders and processors feel pressure from farmers
In the sense that the process of information exchange on the fruit market of Moldova has noticeably intensified. Many large agricultural producers signal to their partners about their intention to “open refrigerators wider” at the end of February – beginning of March. Accordingly, they are interested in the state of sales markets, price situation and logistics opportunities.
For their part, exporters have nothing to please Moldovan farmers. The information about relatively high stocks of marketable apple in fruit storages in Europe is confirmed in practical terms – slow warming up of the market by the end of winter. Earlier the World Apple and Pear Association WAPA reported about high marketable stocks of European apple, especially in the three largest producers – Italy, Poland, France. According to Polish fruit market operators, the country’s apple stocks are still close to 1 million tons in February, with a sluggish “fresh market”.
According to EastFruit price monitoring, in February the price of Golden Delicious apples in Poland did not exceed 0.52 euros/kg on average, while the price of Aidared apples stabilized at a modest level of 0.35 euros/kg. At the same time, the Polish industrial apple market is not yet pushing the “fresh market” from below – demand for raw materials is very low. In neighboring Germany, there is limited demand for raw material for apple concentrate, but the price of industrial apple has fallen to 0.12 euros/kg.
Prospects of the apple market in Moldova
Representatives of the association Speranța Con claim that only one enterprise worked sporadically in January-February. The reason is strong frosts, high energy costs and losses of raw materials in case of processing.
In March, despite the stagnant concentrate market, Moldovan factories will gradually start accepting apple. The starting spring price this year (forecasted at around 3 lei/kg) is likely to be slightly higher than last year’s. However, this is due to psychological rather than economic reasons. From the marketable resource of apples of the harvest-2025, it is likely that Moldovan concentrate producers will accept another 10-20 thousand tons.
Sales in the domestic and foreign “fresh market” will increase. Moreover, regardless of the price situation. One way or another, the marketable remains of last year’s apple should be realized by June. Taking into account the relatively small size of stocks, this task is quite realistic.
