According to official statistics, Uzbekistan exported 40 600 tonnes of peaches and nectarines worth $39.4 million from May 21 to July 20, 2022, which is at least 50% higher than in the same period of 2018, 2019 and 2021 both in volumes and in terms of export earnings.
The rapid growth of exports is primarily due to the low price – it is 10-15% lower than last year, since there are a lot of small-caliber nectarines (diameter 40) this year which are currently sold at 0.40 EUR from orchards.
Since 99% of Uzbek exports go to the markets of the EAEU countries, the influx of small-caliber but cheap nectarines lowered standards and provoked a decrease in prices in other exporting countries in the region. This was especially noted by the growers of Georgia, Serbia and Turkey, the major exporters to Russian Federation. Georgia exports about 80% of peach and nectarine to the Russian Federation, and Turkey – more than 90%.
For this reason, the export of peaches and nectarines from Georgia has stopped last week. Wholesale prices for Georgian peach this week fell to 0.90-1 GEL/kg ($0.35-0.37), and the price of nectarine – to 1.50-2 GEL/kg ($0.55-0.75) depending on the variety and quality.
Given that the peach season in Uzbekistan is coming to an end, EastFruit analysts expect demand for Georgian peaches and nectarines to recover soon.
Source: EastFruit