This year's apple harvest in China, according to forecasts of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), could reach 43 million tonnes; 5.1 percent more than in the previous year. The acreage will grow by 1 percent and the yield will rise by 4.2 percent, report analysts of BGZ Bank-BNP Paribas.
Interestingly, the USDA has revised its apple harvest estimate for the previous season (2014/2015) from 37.8 million tonnes to 40.9 million tonnes. This would mean that production in the previous year (2014) increased in relation to 2013, which, taking into account changes in prices and export volumes of fresh apples and apple concentrate, it seems to be somewhat questionable.
However, regardless of the scale of the increase of this year's production, it is estimated that this will impact positively on China's apple exports. The USDA predicts that in season 2015/2016, shipments of apples from China will reach 900 thousand tonnes, which is 20 percent more than in the previous season, when they amounted to approximately 750 thousand tonnes.
Consequently, and assuming that the level of exports of Polish apples remains stable, it is possible that Poland may lose its status of world's largest apple exporter, falling second to China.
