Russian and Belarusian Potato Rush, Decelerating

The spud rush caused by active imports to Russia and Belarus during their liftings has gradually decelerated, even though it moved to countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus.

Based on an EastFruit recent analysis, the latter is due to the market reaching a point of balance between supply and demand.

The present level of balance has been achieved through increasing the supply of locally produced potatoes and saturating the market with imported ones. As a result, potato prices in Belarus have remained stable for four weeks, and in Russia for three weeks.

Even so, the level where the price is fixed remains quite high. The wholesale price for potatoes in Belarus is two times higher than on the same date last year, and in Russia, it is 2.1 times higher. At the same time, potatoes are more expensive in Russia – USD0.48 versus USD0.37 per kg in Belarus. To illustrate better, high-quality potatoes in Ukraine are now sold at USD0.23 per kg, and in Moldova – at USD0.20.

Consequently, in spite of the stabilization of the market, Belarus continues importing potatoes from Ukraine, but in smaller volumes. In addition, market participants say that the volume of re-export of Ukrainian potatoes to Russia has also significantly decreased. Russia continues buying potatoes from many countries, including Iran, Moldova, and Kyrgyzstan. According to operational data, potatoes from Pakistan are also available on the Russian market.

“However, high prices for potatoes in Belarus and Russia have led to a new growth in potato prices in the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus,” according to the analysis.

Under the influence of potato exports to Russia, prices in Moldova soared. There is a rather unusual situation in the domestic market – there are no imported potatoes on sale at all. Nevertheless, the potato storage infrastructure is not well developed in the country, so all market participants are confident that prices will grow even faster shortly.