“Poland has overtaken China in terms of apple exports and it has become the largest supplier of this fruit in the world,” said Polish Minister of Agriculture, Marek Sawicki, at a press conference in Warsaw.
“During the 2012/2013 season, apple exports amounted to 1.2 million tonnes, reaching the value of 438 million Euro,” he noted.
A third of Poland's apple production now goes towards exports, according to the minister.
The biggest importer of Polish apples over the last season was Russia, whose purchases amounted to 57 percent of Polish apple exports (256 million Euro). Belarus was next, spending 45.5 million Euro on Polish apples, followed by Germany (18 million Euro).
However, even before the Russian-Ukrainian crisis worsened in late February, there were signs of a dip in apple exports to Russia.
In January 2014, Poland exported 68,700 tonnes of apples to Russia, whereas in January 2013, Poland managed to export 104,500 tonnes.
Owing to the volatility of Poland's exports of foodstuffs to Russia (Moscow banned all imports of processed meat under the pretext of the African Swine Fever crisis) Sawicki is heading to the Far East this May, in a bid to consolidate emerging markets. Sawicki will visit South Korea, Singapore and China, among other countries.
