In the first quarter of 2018, Bulgarian fresh vegetable exports grew by 82.5% compared to a year earlier, reaching 14,500 tonnes, while fresh fruit exports have more than doubled, reaching 15,400 tonnes, as revealed by data published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (MAF).
The reported annual increase in the total export of fresh vegetables is mainly due to the huge growth of pea shipments, which amounted to 4,652 tonnes in the period from January to March 2018, when only 51 tonnes had been exported in the same period of 2017. There was also strong growth in the export of corn, with the volume of shipments increasing by more than three times.
Besides, significant increases were recorded in the export of tomatoes (by 28%) peppers (by 48.6%), cucumbers (0.4%), cabbage (43%) and potatoes (93.9%).
As for fresh fruit, the huge increase recorded during the period at hand is mainly due to the re-export of citrus fruits, as an increase of more than 8,300 tonnes was reported, so the total volume more than doubled. Compared to the same period in 2017, there were also increases in the export of strawberries (by 10.3%) and apples (which more than tripled), while apricots, nuts, grapes and plums recorded drops.
Imports
The increase in fresh vegetable imports is mainly due to the growth recorded by tomatoes (by 3,100 tonnes, or 16%) and cucumbers (by 3,000 tonnes, or 42,9%). Increases have also been recorded in the imports of cabbage (11%), aubergines (28.9%), pumpkins (36.4%) and peppers (44.7%).
Among the traditionally imported vegetables, a decrease in imports was observed in carrots, onions, potatoes, mushrooms and truffles, from the 6.8% of carrots to the 36% of mushrooms.
As for fruits, there were increases in the import of nuts, melons, strawberries, grapes, peaches, watermelons, pears and plums, ranging between 4.7% (nuts) and 77.2% (plums). A significant year-on-year decline was recorded in the case of apples, with 3,800 tonnes less, which is a 26.3% drop.
According to NSI preliminary data, 78.3 thousand tonnes of fresh vegetables and 77.9 thousand tonnes of fresh fruit were imported in the first quarter of 2018, which is 6.5% and 18.5% more, respectively, than in the same period of 2017.
Source: fermer.bg