Will Ukraine expand onion export and supply Poland with carrot and potato?

Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita informs about the forecast of the dramatic price growth for potato, onion, carrot and parsley with the reference to the produce business experts. According to the source, the price for potato can grow up to 50% as soon as in coming months. At the present moment the wholesale price for potato in Warsaw exceeds 40% the wholesale price for potato in Lviv. Taking this fact into consideration, we can say that the price difference can reach 100% in the coming weeks.

Nevertheless, to the opinion of Andrey Yarmak, the Deputy Director of the Agricultural Marketing Project, a large-scale potato export from Ukraine to Poland is hardly possible. To the expert's opinion, the main obstacle for such business is that Ukrainian varieties, and also practices of potato post harvest handling and packing are inconsistent with the requirements of Polish consumers. Also, Ukrainian companies are inexperienced in potato export. At the same time, small shipments of Ukrainian product can easily reach Polish market, if the price difference is high enough.

The forecasts of the price situation development for bulb onion are of a great interest to Ukrainian exporters cause bulb onion has been already successfully supplied to Polish market. Here is good news as well - Polish experts forecast 30% price growth for this commodity in the coming months. The wholesale price difference for bulb onion in Poland and in Ukraine is more than 200%; such trend can result in the increased onion export to Poland.

The other interesting news is the forecast of 30% price growth for carrot; at the same time the prices for this product are relatively moderate in Ukraine. At the present moment the wholesale price for carrot is higher 2.4 times on BRONISZE market (near Warsaw) than it is on SHUVAR market (in Lviv). If the carrot prices grow further, the export of this product from Ukraine to Poland will become possible and profitable. However, the same as potato, carrot may face the problem of the inconsistent varieties preferred, as well as the improper practices of sorting, post harvest handling and packing of carrot.

Polish analysts also forecast price growth for parsley on Polish market; however, it is a traditional seasonal trend. Moreover, parsley is several times cheaper in Poland than in Ukraine.

Source:http:lol.org.ua