White cabbage in Ukraine continues to rise in price intensively, and the growth rate of prices for these products has noticeably accelerated this week, project analysts report Eastfruit.
The reason for the next increase in prices in this segment, key players say is the consistently high demand for white cabbage both in the domestic market and from export-oriented companies. But the supply volumes of these products in Ukraine in the current season are significantly inferior to last year, due to the reduction in area.
Today, Ukrainian farmers are ready to ship white cabbage no cheaper than UAH 15-17/kg ($0,52-0,59/kg), which is 1,5 times more expensive on average than at the end of the last working week. Market experts call the re-export of Ukrainian cabbage to Russia through Belarus the main reason for the current situation. Due to the boom in the cabbage market in Russia, demand from Belarusian export-oriented companies in Ukraine has increased several times over the past week.
“Given the current situation on the market of white cabbage in Ukraine, we do not see any prerequisites for lowering selling prices for these products until the end of the current season,” commented Alexander Khorev, Head of APK-Inform: Vegetables and Fruits project, — it will be difficult to relieve tension in the domestic market by supplying imported products, since today our main suppliers of these products, in particular Poland, are closing the shortage of cabbage supply simultaneously in Ukraine and the Russian Federation, where today there is an acute shortage of white cabbage supply.
Now the prices for white cabbage in Ukraine are on average seven times higher than last year's figures for the same period. At the same time, most Ukrainian producers are currently holding back sales of cabbage, hoping to sell it at an even higher price in early spring.