Govt says vegetable prices to fall soon after seasonal growth

MOSCOW, Jan 13 (PRIME) – Russia’s vegetable prices demonstrated seasonal growth at the beginning of the year when pricy imports replace cheap local produce, but falling demand after the holidays may reduce the prices, an Agriculture Ministry spokesperson told PRIME late on Wednesday.

The Federal State Statistics Service said that fruit and vegetable prices rose by 3.1% on average from January 1 through Monday, with the cucumber prices gaining 7.37%, tomato 6.73%, cabbage 6%, banana 3.78%, carrots 3.61%, potato 1.63%, and onion 1.59%.

“The current price dynamics is also caused by a seasonal factor to a significant degree. In the winter period, the share of expensive imported vegetables rises on the market, which leads to an increase of average prices for the products,” the spokesperson said.

He added that contraction of consumer demand for vegetables after the New Year holidays will become a reason for their fall.

In spite of unfavorable weather in 2021, the data of the Russian regions showed that the harvest of field vegetables remained flat on the year at 5.3 million tonnes. The harvest of potatoes stood at 6.7 million tonnes, and 1.4 million tonnes of vegetables were harvested in the greenhouses, an absolute record, the spokesperson said.

Prices for milk and dairy products also meet the seasonal trends, as production usually contracts in the autumn and winter, while production costs rise. At the same time, prices for meat are mixed, with the prices for pork falling by 4% in the previous week, poultry prices remaining flat, and beef and lamb prices rising by 0.3% and 1%, respectively.

End %%md/jst%%