The grave consequences of abnormally cold weather in Uzbekistan in January the analysts have repeatedly paid attention to are increasingly starting to present themselves, EastFruit reports.
After the frost destroyed part of the onion stocks, caused a delay in harvesting early onions, and caused significant losses in the white cabbage harvest, it also led to a significant delay in the time of planting potatoes, enticing more negative consequences.
Namely, since potatoes are planted in late January – early February due to climatic conditions in Uzbekistan, the first wholesale batches of potatoes usually enter the domestic market from the southern regions of the country.
Due to the January frosts, as Uzbekistan farmers explain, the planting of potatoes in Surkhandarya, the southernmost region of Uzbekistan this year started about three weeks later than last year – at the end of the second week and the beginning of the third week in February.
This means that potato harvest is also “shifted” and will be delayed by about the same time period which will result in an increased volume of potato imports in the first half of 2023 and prolonged import for three weeks compared to 2022.
The volume of imports of potatoes to Uzbekistan decreased at the end of 2022 for the first time in the last few years. International trade statistics show that 532 500 tonnes of potatoes were imported into Uzbekistan from January-December 2022, which is 14 700 tonnes or 2.7% less than in 2021.
Previously – from 2017 to 2021 – potatoes had become the main import product of the fruit and vegetable sector of Uzbekistan with import volume that increased 2.8 times from 193 600 tonnes to 547 200 tonnes, in those five years.
The wholesale prices of potatoes also reacted to the harvest and market shifts with a sharp increase – from 4 000 to 5 000 UZS/kg potatoes (from $0.35 to $0.44) – during the second half of January 2023.
After that, prices have gradually returned to their previous levels with the average wholesale price returning to 4 000 UZS/kg by March 3, 2023. In the last week, the average wholesale price of potatoes in Uzbekistan is only 8% higher than the average wholesale price as of the same date in 2021.
