According to EastFruit, in 2018, Uzbekistan lost its place in the TOP-3 world leaders in terms of persimmon export, giving way to China. In total, over the year, persimmon export from Uzbekistan amounted to 55,000 tons, which is 18,000 tons less than in 2017. Despite the fact that China also reduced the volume of persimmon export, it was still able to bypass Uzbekistan in the rating.
Almost all Uzbek persimmons were supplied to the markets of Kazakhstan and Russia. Significantly smaller volumes were also exported to Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan. According to trade sources, significant volumes of the Uzbek persimmon, supplied to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, were then re-exported to the Russian market.
At the same time, it is worth noting that there was a considerable increase in persimmon shipments from Uzbekistan to Belarus and Ukraine. Export to Belarus tripled (up to 763 tons), and to Ukraine - doubled (up to 593 tons). A trial batch of Uzbek persimmons was also delivered to the UAE market.
International trade in persimmons is about 600-700,000 tons annually in the amount of $500- $600 million. Russia is the largest global importer by a huge margin. This country annually imports more than 160,000 tons of persimmons for $130 million. The second place is taken by Germany, the third is Kazakhstan, which mainly re-exports persimmons. The leaders also include Ukraine, France, Italy, Belarus, Lithuania, Thailand and Poland.
