Potato prices rising

In early November, a significant increase in potato prices is being observed in Ukraine.

That's according to analysts with the EastFruit project.

The main reason for the rise in prices, experts say, was a fairly high demand for these products from wholesale companies, which started purchasing potatoes for storage.

Today, producers offer potatoes for sale at UAH 5.50-7.50 / kg ($0.19-0.26/kg), which is on average 10% more expensive than at the end of the past working week.

Read alsoCabinet approves programs for development of vegetable production until 2025According to farmers, not only high demand, but also a reduction in supply from smaller farms allowed raising prices in the segment, since the harvesting campaign has already passed its peak.

Market operators note that the rise in prices did not contribute to a decrease in demand, and therefore they did not rule out that next week, farmers would attempt to once again raise prices.

Background

Ukrainian potato growers lagged behind the normal rate of harvesting in August-September due to dry weather.

According to experts, this could provoke an increase in potato imports in 2020.

Ukraine in 2019 increased the import of potatoes, mainly from Russia, by 43 times – to a record 250,000 tonnes, with its own harvest of 20.3 million tonnes.