After the Russian import boycott was put in place in the EU (and a few other countries) in August 2014 the import of pears to Russia dropped sharply. By November 2014 the effects of the boycott were clearly visible. In the period between November 2014 and February 2015 the import of pears fell to 74,000 tons, from 169,000 tons in the season prior. That is a drop of at least 55%. Between March and July the drop was not as bad, at 26%. During those months 132,000 pears were imported to Russia compared to 179,000 last year.
Russia: in the first nine months of this year 72,000 tons of pears were imported to Russia from Belarus
The drop in imported pears was not too sharp because of the large volume that was imported from Belarus. In 2012 the volume of pears imported to Russia from Belarus was quite low. In 2013 the volume was 28,000 and in 2014 it was 46,000 tons. In the first nine months of this year the import from Belarus has grown to 72,000 tons, compared to 15,000 tons during the same period in 2014. According to official statistics in Belarus, these pears came from Lithuania. The imported pears from Lithuania are mainly from the Netherlands and Belgium. The official statistics for the first half of the year are as follows:
- In the first half of the year Lithuania exported 90,000 tons of pears to Belarus compared to not even 10,000 tons in the same period last year (source: Eurostat)
- In the first half of this year Lithuania imported 82,000 tons of pears, of which 58,000 tons came from the Netherlands and 10,000 tons came from Belgium. In the first half of 2014 Lithuania imported 32,000 tons, of which 21,000 tons came from the Netherlands and 6,000 came from Belgium. (source: Eurostat)
- Official export figures (source: Eurostat) of pears from the Netherlands to Lithuania show a much smaller export
- Export figures from Belgium (source: Eurostat) show that during the first half of 2015 export reached 167,000 tons compared to 184,000 tons in the first half of 2014. According to Eurostat, the Belgian export of pears to Lithuania grew in the first half of this year, from 4,000 to 24,000 tons. Furthermore, it is noticeable that exports from Belgium to Latvia rose sharply, from 1,600 in the first half of 2014 to 21,000 tons in the first half of 2015. Export from the Netherlands grew in the same period as well, from 19,000 to 27,000 tons.
What is striking is that no other country has jumped in to replace Russia. In the first nine months of this year Russian import of pears from Argentina fell from 90,000 tons to less than 70,000 tons. Import from South Africa and Chile remained at the same level and import from China fell. In other countries the numbers are much smaller. There was growth in import in the following countries: Morocco, Bosnia, Brazil, Armenia and Peru.
For more information:
Fruit & Vegetable Facts
Jan Kees Boon
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www.fruitandvegetablefacts.com
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