Russia’s pear imports plummet

Russia remains the second largest importer of pears in the world, despite the decline for the second year in a row, according to USDA data. In 2019/2020, pear imports dropped by 25% in volume to 194,064 tons and 7% in value due to higher prices for imported pears, resulting in lower demand.  After the 2014 ban restricting imports of fruit from the European Union, Russia began to import pears from Southern Hemisphere countries, which supplied pears from February to September.  In 2019/2020, exports from Argentina and South Africa increased and accounted for two-thirds of the overall imports to the Russian Federation, while the supply from other origins declined significantly.

In 2020/2021, imports of pears are projected to increase slightly to 195,000 tons due to lower priced product from Argentina and Turkey.  For the first two months of the 2020/2021 marketing year, imports were up by 20% compared to last year due.