Baku, Azerbaijan, May 29
By Fakhri Vakilov – Trend:
Uzbekistan, for the first time, began to export wholesale batches of early potatoes to Ukraine, Trend reports with reference to EastFruit portal.
This product is offered in bulk at 15-17 hryvnia/kg (57-64 cents per kg) and is distinguished by good quality.
However, the Ukrainian side points out that Uzbek potatoes are being sold with difficulty, since domestic producers offer Ukrainian early potatoes at a more competitive price. In addition, the quality of Ukrainian early production is higher than that of Uzbekistan, as Ukrainian potatoes are delivered to customers immediately from the field after harvesting.
EastFruit experts note that Ukraine has never imported Uzbek potatoes before, because Uzbekistan itself is a major importer of potatoes. Uzbekistan imports from 150,000 to 300,000 tons of marketable potatoes annually, entering the top twenty of the world's largest potato importers.
Experts believe that the export of potatoes from Uzbekistan can be explained by the need of Ukraine in onions. According to them, the Uzbek side offers Ukraine the supplies of onions alongside other agricultural products including potatoes.
Thus, since harvesting of early potatoes in Uzbekistan began in March and the prices at that time were relatively low, their shipments in April-May were seen as a good addition to the supply of onions. However, the last shipments of Uzbek potatoes did not bring much profit to Ukrainian importers: the prices for the products on the market are falling almost daily.
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