For 9 months of this year, Uzbekistan exported a record volume of products, thanks to an increase in the volume of supplies to the Chinese market and the expansion of the geography of prune exports, analysts at EastFruit say.
In particular, from the beginning of January to the end of September this year, 26.4 thousand tons of prunes were shipped to foreign markets. According to preliminary estimates of EastFruit analysts, by the end of 2023, the volume of exports of products will be about 35 thousand tons. This means increasing the supply of prunes to foreign markets at a high rate for the second year in a row.
As a result of a sharp increase in exports in 2022, Uzbekistan was among the three leaders in the export of prunes in the world. In addition, by the end of this year, our country will retain its position in the top three. Depending on the US export indicator, in 2023 Uzbekistan also claims the second place in the ranking of the largest exporters of prunes in the world, the publication clarifies.
In 2022, the geography of prune exports from Uzbekistan expanded - the number of importing countries with an annual supply volume of over 100 tons increased to 18. Moreover, 7.4 thousand tons of products were delivered to the Chinese market, which accounted for about a third of the total export volume of Uzbek prunes. Thus, Uzbekistan has become the second largest supplier of prunes in the Chinese market after Chile. The share of our country in the total volume of imports of these products to China was 31%.
In addition, last year Uzbek prunes were delivered to Belgium in the amount of 1.2 thousand tons, Algeria - 665 tons and Mexico - 110 tons, where Uzbekistan had not previously exported products. The volume of deliveries to Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Mongolia also increased. At the same time, the volume of exports to the Russian market also increased to 5.1 thousand tons.
As for this year, in January-September Uzbekistan exported 16 thousand tons of prunes to China, which accounted for 61% of the total exports of products in this period. The rest of the exports were distributed among the following importing countries: Russia - 4.2 thousand tons (16%), Belgium - 792 tons (3%), Turkey - 768 tons (3%), Belarus - 730 tons (3%), Kazakhstan - 700 tons (3%), Ukraine - 643 tons (2%), Lithuania - 590 tons (2%), Georgia - 440 tons (2%), Mexico - 335 tons (1%), Latvia - 300 tons (1%).
At the same time, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, the UAE and Poland - in volumes from 100 to 140 tons to each of the countries, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Azerbaijan and Iraq - from 40 to 80 tons, Turkmenistan, Bulgaria, Spain, Tajikistan - from 16 to 22 tons, as well as other countries - 20 tons.
EastFruit experts note that in order to form a steadily growing trend in the export volumes of Uzbek prunes, it is necessary to consolidate positions in the Chinese market, continue the successful diversification of exports by importing countries and expand its presence in those markets where this product is already supplied. Moreover, taking into account the growth rates of plum production in Uzbekistan and the capacity of the world prune market, at such rates of increase in the export of Uzbek prunes as observed last year and this year, over time Uzbekistan can claim world leadership in the prune market.
