The situation in the Polish apple market is still difficult. Despite the month-to-month decrease in the stocks of apples, prices remain at the same levels and the sector is increasingly pessimistic.
On the first day of March, according to WAPA, Poland had 840 thousand tonnes of apples in storage. In terms of stocks in Europe, the only country ahead of Poland is Italy, which has about 897 thousand tonnes of the fruit.
Without a doubt, the volume of apples available is very high. In March 2012, Polish growers had 570 thousand tonnes of apples in cold storage. In the following year, there were slightly more, 606 thousand tonnes, in 2014, the figure reached 680 thousand tonnes, while in 2015 there was a total of 724 thousand tonnes of apples in storage.
The closing of the Russian border, as well as poor export growth, have certainly taken a toll. In the current situation, the mechanism of withdrawal of fruit from the market is the only alternative to sell apples at attractive prices.
In any case, as learned by www.sadyogrody.pl, apple prices are still dramatically low. Each kilo of the fruit generates an average of 0.70-0.90 zloty/kg (0.16-0.21 Euro), only slightly below the price levels reached by the most desirable varieties, which yield about 1 zloty/kg (0.23 Euro).
It is worth noting that, last year, prices gradually increased by several cents per month since January. In March, they ranged between 0.96 and 1.35 zloty/kg (0.22-0.32 Euro), depending on the variety and size, and in April they already reached 1.47 to 2 zloty/kg (0.34 to 0.47 Euro).
