Favourable yields in Hungary's cherry production
Experts believe that this year yields in the country’s cherry production will be above average and at higher output levels than last year. The warm weather early in the year meant that the season started a few days earlier than usual.
Cherry production is incredibly vulnerable to changing weather patterns, which is shown by the fact that in the last ten years Hungary’s cherry production ranged between 4.8 and 11.3 thousand tons.
This year, the biggest part of the produce was sold internally, though Lithuania and Poland are the two biggest importers of Hungarian cherries.
Globally there has been a lot of fluctuation in this year’s cherry production. While the USA is expected to produce 26 per cent less than last year, Turkey’s exports have grown by 88 per cent between January and June, compared to last year. Due to a late start to the season and heavy rains Spain faced quality issues, similar to Italy.
The European Union’s fresh cherry export balance was negative in 2017, with 40.4 per cent imported and 10.4 per cent exported.
Source: AKI Agrarpiaci Jelentesek
Peter Bori - Junior Policy Advisor Agriculture