Seven to ten days ago, the first significant quantities of early potatoes from the new harvest began to appear at wholesale markets in the capital of Uzbekistan. According to EastFruit analysts, the first wholesale quantities of early potatoes became available on the market three weeks later than last year.
The average wholesale price for early potatoes on April 7, 2023 was 16,000 UZS per kilogram ($1.41). Comparatively, the first wholesale lots of early potatoes from the new crop were available at the same price in the markets of the capital of Uzbekistan from March 11-17, 2022.
However, prices for early potatoes have a tendency to decline swiftly, as was the case last year. From March 17 to April 7 of last year, their average wholesale price decreased by 44%, from 16,000 to 9,000 UZS per kilogram (from $1.38 to $0.79).
As of April 7, 2023, the average wholesale price for early potatoes has increased by 1.80 times compared to the previous year.
We would like to remind you that at the beginning of March 2023, EastFruit reported that the planting of potatoes in the southernmost region of Uzbekistan, the Surkhandarya region, from which the first wholesale batches of early potatoes enter the markets of the capital, began approximately three weeks later than in 2022.
Consequently, the potato harvest has relocated by the same amount of time. The reason for this postponement is the abnormally chilly January observed in Uzbekistan.
In Uzbekistan, current wholesale prices for potatoes harvested in 2022 are comparable to those of the previous year. On April 7, 2023, the average wholesale price was 4,000 UZS per kilogram, or $0.35, which was four times less than early potatoes. However, demand exists for both early and last year’s potatoes.
In the coming weeks, wholesale prices for early potatoes are anticipated to decline significantly, assuming that the price dynamics of early potatoes will mirror those of previous years and decrease at roughly the same rate as in previous years.
