Uzbekistan increases fresh cherry exports to South Korea

Uzbekistan has increased exports of fresh cherries to South Korea by 65% in 2021. However, the volume remained relatively low – Uzbek exporters collected only 206 tons of cherries meeting the requirements of fruit importers from South Korea throughout the season. This is half the record volume of supplies delivered in 2017, when Uzbekistan exported more than 400 tons of cherries to South Korea, EastFruit says.

For comparison, the United States exported about 12 thousand tons of cherries to the South Korean market, despite Uzbek cherries being very cheap and American ones being quite expensive this year. 

At the same time, the seasons of harvesting and selling cherries in Uzbekistan and the United States overlap. Uzbek cherries, even taking into account delivery to South Korea, were sold in 2021 on average twice as cheap as cherries from the United States.

Uzbekistan exported 24.5 thousand tons of cherries to Russia in 2021.