High European apple prices

EU apple prices were well above the 5-year average at the start of the new marketing year on 1st August 2020, due to a smaller crop. The volume of the EU28 crop is expected to be about 10.79 million tons, according to WAPA data. The volume of the new crop is 1% below 2019’s small crop and 7% less than the 5-year reference average.

The level of stocks was 15% lower than the 5-year average on 1 July 2020. Given the small crop, stocks should remain at low levels throughout the new marketing year. Prices were above average levels during 2019/20 and are expected to continue for one more year.

In Poland, one of the two top EU producers, prices have been at high and very high levels, breaking all historical records since the spring. This is due to low stocks in this country and very firm demand in the EU during the sanitary crisis.