In March 2021, Moldova exported almost 19,000 tons of apples, in March 2019 this was more than 42,000 tons. However, given the blockage of land transport routes to the east due to the war in Ukraine, even this result does not look like a failure.
It is surprising that more than 6,000 tons of apples were sent to the Russian market, and 1,300 tons to the Belarusian market, even though very long detours. What’s more interesting, some 1,800 tons of apples were exported to the Romanian market from Moldova in March, which is slightly less than the total volume exported in 2021.
It is notable that the average invoice price of Moldovan apples sent to Romania was about 6.2 MDL/kg ($0.35/kg). Whereas, according to growers, apples of “obsolete” varieties for export to Romania were purchased by traders at no more than 3 MDL/kg ($0.16/kg). This means that most of the exports to Romania were apple varieties more or less popular on the European market.