Nuts, frozen berries and apples have become the most demanded export products from the Ukrainian fruit and berry market in the first 10 months of 2019, as revealed in a survey from the Ukrainian Fruit and Vegetable Association.
For the first 10 months of this year, Ukraine exported fruits, berries and nuts worth $ 191.9 million (according to the State Statistics Committee). This is a record figure for the past 5 years, with the volumes exceeding those of the previous season by 9%.
Nuts account for the largest share of export deliveries of the aforementioned products, with 47.2 thousand tons worth $ 86.4 million shipped in the first 10 months of the year. The main importers of Ukrainian nuts are Turkey, Greece, France, Azerbaijan, Iraq, the Netherlands, Romania, Lebanon, Bulgaria and Germany. It is worth noting that Ukraine is one of the world's largest exporters of walnuts, and in the top three when it comes to the export of walnut kernel, only behind the United States and Mexico. Moreover, Ukrainian products are in high demand and highly appreciated on the global market due to their high quality. However, this season Ukrainian producers have been forced to lower the price of their products due to the increase of walnut supply in the market. Many countries are now actively increasing walnut production and exports, and Ukraine is among the leaders in these trends.
Another considerable part of Ukraine's export revenue comes from frozen berries, with 41.7 thousand tons worth $ 71.2 million exported over the first 10 months of the year. The increase in exports in this segment is driven by the growth in the global consumption of berries, which applies to both frozen and fresh products.
As for apples, in the first 10 months of this year, Ukraine exported 47.1 thousand tons worth $ 14.4 million. Compared to the same period of 2018, exports have increased by 49% in terms of volume and by 33% in terms of value. It is worth recalling that last year's season was marked by a record apple production in the country, with about 1.46 million tons harvested; therefore, a part of this year's supply still consists of apples of last year's harvest, which Ukrainian producers sold in January-April this year.
