Vegetable exports already down; reduced harvests promise no improvement

According to the Central Statistical Office (GUS) in the first half of this year domestic producers exported 67.9 thousand tons of fresh vegetables for little more than $18 million, only 64%of the figure for the respective period last year. In the first half of this year, Poland exported 12,000 tons of fresh vegetables to Germany and 14,000 tons to the Netherlands. The third largest export destination is the Czech Republic, which in the same period purchased vegetables totaling $ 1.6 million. Other clients of the vegetable exports are France ($912,000), Russia ($906,000), Italy ($824,000), Slovakia ($548,000), Lithuania ($488,000), and Belgium ($417,000). Unfortunately, there is little hope these statistics will improve since poor weather conditions have reduced harvests. (Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 2)