Apple prices tipped to rise after key production regions devested by fires
Korea is counting the cost of an outbreak of wildfires through March and April which has ravaged the country’s fruit production.
According to a report from KoreaBizWire, the fires swept through the northern Gyeongsangbuk-do Province impacting key apple-producing counties including Andong, Cheongsong, Uiseong, Yeongyang, and Yeongdeok. Approximately 9,362ha of apple production was affected, which accounts for about 28 per cent of the country’s 33,000ha of apple cultivation area.
“In many cases, the trees couldn’t even bloom. Even if they did, they won’t be able to grow apples due to the heat-dried interior,” Ryu Young-woo, a farmer in Jinbo-myeon, who lost 1,800 trees to the fires, told KoreaBizWire. “From the outside, the trees look intact, but inside, they’re rotting.”
Ryu and other growers predict apple prices could surge by at least 30 per cent starting in July, when this year’s apples begin to hit the market.
“Last year, we talked about ‘golden apples’ when prices hit ₩10,000 (US$7) apiece. This year, we might be looking at ‘platinum apples,’” Ryu said, adding that rising prices could hurt overall sales volumes.
The fires also damaged infrastructure. According to local authorities, 40 cold storage units in Cheongsong had been damaged or destroyed as of mid-April.
At the national level, apple prices are already trending higher, according to the report. Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation data showed the wholesale price of apples averaged ₩6,912 per kilogram in mid-April – up 71 per cent from the same period last year. Retail prices also rose 14 per cent year-on-year.
