According to EastFruit analysts, a historic event took place in 2024: Ukraine, which practically did not export frozen raspberries ten years ago, for the first time became the world leader in terms of net exports of this berry, surpassing not only Poland but also Serbia, the long-time leader in this segment.
In 2024, according to trade statistics, Ukraine’s exports of frozen raspberries reached a record 65 thousand tons, showing a 34% increase over the year. This was a much faster increase than any other major exporter. In general, over the past three seasons, Ukraine’s exports of frozen raspberries have more than doubled, while Serbia has maintained its performance at the same level and Poland has reduced its exports by 24%.
It is worth noting that Ukraine imports only small volumes of raspberries, unlike Serbia and especially Poland, which actively purchase them abroad. In Polish exports, the share of imported raspberries already exceeds 52%, with the bulk of Poland’s purchases coming from Ukraine. In fact, almost half of the frozen raspberries exported by Poland are of Ukrainian origin. It is the affordable Ukrainian raspberries that allow this country to maintain its position among the world market leaders.
If we analyze net exports, Ukraine supplies 65 thousand tons of frozen raspberries to foreign markets, while Poland supplies only about 16 thousand tons. Thus, in 2024, Ukraine exported four times more frozen raspberries than Poland!
Interestingly, in terms of total exports of frozen raspberries, Ukraine is still slightly behind Serbia. In 2024, Serbia exported 67.7 thousand tons of raspberries, while Ukraine exported 65.1 thousand tons. However, Serbia imported 4.7 thousand tons for further re-export, which reduced its net exports to 63 thousand tons, which is 2 thousand tons less than Ukraine.
“The key step to consolidating Ukraine’s global leadership in frozen raspberry exports will be further diversification of sales markets. To do this, Ukrainian exporters need to improve the quality of raspberries and invest in their processing and marketing, which will help to increase the average export price. Higher export revenues could be used to improve products, increase their quality, and expand production. Currently, many Ukrainian producers of frozen berries export to Poland the raw materials that Polish processors sort, pack and re-export, leaving the added value in their country,” says Andriy Yarmak, economist at the FAO Investment Department.
The process of diversification of frozen raspberry exports from Ukraine is already underway. It is noteworthy that Poland played a significant role in this. Farmers’ protests against imports of raspberries and other agricultural products forced Ukrainian exporters to look for new markets, which turned out to be much more profitable than the Polish market. The additional income of Ukrainian raspberry producers was reinvested in expanding production and processing in Ukraine, which accelerated Ukraine’s ascent to the global raspberry export Olympus.
Between 2022 and 2024, Poland’s share of Ukrainian raspberry exports decreased from 63% to 35%. Instead, the share of Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, and France, key markets for Polish exporters, more than doubled to 48% of direct exports from Ukraine. Ukraine is actively gaining market share in Poland, which has been made possible by improving the quality of its products and the level of their processing.
Over the past three years, Ukraine’s exports of frozen raspberries to Germany have increased 4.5 times, to the Czech Republic 4.2 times, to Austria 33 times, and to France twice. In 2024, Ukraine also exported over 2,000 tons of raspberries to Belgium, Italy, and Lithuania for the first time.
In addition, Ukraine is rapidly increasing its exports of frozen raspberries to Canada and the United States, markets that offer much higher prices than the EU. Three years ago, Ukraine did not supply products to these countries, and now it often outperforms its Polish competitors in terms of exports.
Among the unusual export destinations for frozen raspberries, it is worth noting the first commercial deliveries of Ukrainian products to Argentina and Saudi Arabia.
Given the high prices for raspberries in the previous season, EastFruit analysts predict that in 2025 and in the 2025/26 season, Ukraine will update its raspberry export records and strengthen its leadership. In particular, already in 2025, Ukraine may overtake Serbia in terms of total exports of frozen raspberries.
Amid high corn prices, Ukrainian farmers have already exported about 1.8-1.9 million tons and are still maintaining good shipment rates, but the situation on the global market may soon change, according to the analytical cooperative Pusk, created within the framework of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council.
“Today, Ukrainian corn looks quite expensive on the global market. For example, we offer corn to the Spanish market at $257-260 per ton, while Argentine products are $10-15 cheaper at $245-248. As a result, the key consumers in the EU are not showing active demand. Moreover, in April, new batches of Argentine grain are expected to come in, which will put even more pressure on prices,” the analysts explained.
Experts pointed out that according to the satellite monitoring data, the soil moisture level in the so-called “small” states, which account for almost 45% of corn production, is decreasing in Brazil. If weather conditions continue to deteriorate, this could affect yields and trigger a new price increase.
“The climate in Brazil has a distinct seasonality: first, it rains heavily, then there is a long heat wave without precipitation. If the moisture reserves are not accumulated sufficiently, corn will not form the necessary vegetative mass. As of the end of March, there is a downward trend in soil moisture, and the risk zone is gradually expanding. If this continues, we may see a new round of price growth in May,” experts predict.
At the same time, they note that there is positive news coming from Turkey: the country has reduced the duty on corn imports and opened a quota. It is the demand from this direction that is currently supporting the prices of Ukrainian corn. However, according to experts, the quota may be enough for a week, provided active trade.
“The current price of corn on CPT-port basis is over $230 per ton, which is actually the price for Turkey. As soon as Turkey exhausts its quota, the market may drop to $215-220 in April, which is in line with seasonal patterns. Against this background, farmers should carefully weigh the decision to sell,” the analysts emphasized.
Thus, the situation on the corn market remains ambiguous: in the short term, prices may fall, but in the medium term, under the negative scenario in Brazil, growth in May-June is possible.
“Ukrainian producers should closely monitor the weather conditions in South America and be prepared for both scenarios,” Pusk called for.
As of March 26, Ukraine exported 32.214 mln tonnes of grains and pulses since the beginning of 2024-2025 marketing year, including 3.032 mln tonnes shipped since the beginning of the current month, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food reported, citing the data of the State Customs Service.
According to the report, as of March 27 last year, the total shipments amounted to 34.199 mln tons, including 4.529 mln tons in March.
At the same time, since the beginning of the current season, Ukraine has exported 12.912 mln tonnes of wheat (13.504 mln tonnes in 2023/24 MY), 2.196 mln tonnes of barley (1.957 mln tonnes), 10.8 thsd tonnes of rye (1 thsd tonnes), and 16.621 mln tonnes of corn (18.447 mln tonnes).
The total export of Ukrainian flour since the beginning of the season as of March 26 is estimated at 52.8 thsd tonnes (in 2023/24 MY – 78.1 thsd tonnes), including 48.9 thsd tonnes of wheat (74 thsd tonnes).
In 2030, Ukrainian biomethane producers will be able to supply up to 1 billion cubic meters of this fuel to the EU, says Maciej Zaniewicz, Green Deal Ukraine project expert, senior analyst at Forum Energii (Poland), who is a co-author of the study “Potential for Cooperation between Ukraine and the EU in the Field of Biomethane” by Green Deal Ukraine and the Ukrainian Climate Office.
“In our opinion, as well as in the opinion of Ukrainian analysts, the real volumes of biomethane production in Ukraine can be plus or minus 0.5% of EU demand. We are talking about about 1 billion cubic meters of biomethane in 2030,” Zanevych said in an interview with theInterfax-Ukraine energy project Energoreforma.
According to him, the most interesting thing in the study on the potential for cooperation in this area was that Ukrainian biomethane has already found buyers at market prices in the EU.
“At the same time, demand in the EU is so high that Ukrainian imports will not hinder the development of the industry within the EU,” the expert believes.
At the same time, he notes that Ukrainian biomethane “will not become some kind of export hit for Ukraine and a panacea for the EU.”
“What I mean is that it will not fully replace natural gas imports to the EU. Yes, it is an important component for diversifying gas supplies, but it will not completely replace imports,” Zanevych explained.
He also drew attention to the risk that pro-Russian circles will try to sow disinformation, “as it was with the trucks, as it was with the farmers.” “That allegedly Ukrainian biomethane producers will displace European producers. That’s why we wanted to make a reliable analysis based on objective data and show how it can actually be,” the expert said.
As reported, the first batch of Ukrainian biomethane of 67 thousand cubic meters was exported on February 7, 2025 by Vitagro, an energy holding whose plant with a capacity of 3 million cubic meters of biomethane per year operates in Khmelnytsky region. The exports were made to Germany.
On February 11, MHP’s biomethane plant Oril-Leader (Dnipropetrovs’k region) exported 27.4 thousand cubic meters of biomethane and became the second Ukrainian company to do so. MHP exported biomethane via gas pipelines across the Ukrainian-Polish border to Germany. The buyer was Vitol. The capacity of Oril-Leader is 11 million cubic meters per year.
The Gals Agro agricultural holding has built a biomethane plant with a capacity of 3 million cubic meters in Chernihiv region. The company has already been connected to the grid and is preparing to export its products.
At the Ukrainian Investment Congress in Kyiv in early March, Georgii Geletukha, Chairman of the Board of the Bioenergy Association of Ukraine (BAU), said that Ukraine could soon become the main supplier of biomethane to the European Union, with the share of Ukrainian products in the European market reaching 20% in the future.
Geletukha emphasized that Europe aims to consume approximately 35 billion cubic meters of biomethane in 2030, while European production is currently estimated at 3 billion cubic meters. Given the current market trends, the EU will be able to increase its own production to 20 billion cubic meters of biomethane within five years.
The expert explained such a delay in the development of the biomethane market in Europe by the lack of large free areas of agricultural land and, accordingly, the inability to produce the necessary amount of raw materials for processing.
He drew attention to Europe’s new plans for 2030, which include the production and consumption of 100 billion cubic meters of biomethane by 2050. However, it will not reach this figure because of the lack of raw materials, the expert believes.
According to his assumption, if Ukraine were to produce up to 15 billion cubic meters of biomethane now, the EU would “buy everything with a bang.”
According to him, in Ukraine, the range of biomethane producers and potential exporters will expand in 2025. They will be joined by another MHP company, Teofipol Energy Company, and Józefów-Mykolaiv Biogas Company. In total, Ukrainian facilities will produce 111 million cubic meters of biomethane per year.
At a cost of EUR900 per 1 thousand cubic meters of biomethane produced from crop waste or from animal waste, including manure or litter, at EUR1100-1200 per 1 thousand cubic meters, Ukraine will be able to receive up to EUR100 billion annually from exporting these products to the EU, Geletukha predicts.
The study on the prospects of cooperation between Ukraine and the EU in the field of biomethane is available at https://greendealukraina.org/uk/products/analytical-reports/the-potential-of-ukraine-eu-biomethane-cooperation
As of March 24, Ukraine exported 31.736 mln tonnes of grains and pulses since the beginning of 2024/2025 marketing year (MY, July 2024 – June 2025), of which 2.553 mln tonnes were shipped this month, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food reported, citing the data of the State Customs Service.
According to the report, as of March 27 last year, the total shipments amounted to 34.199 mln tons, including 4.529 mln tons in March.
At the same time, in terms of crops, since the beginning of the current season, as of March 24, 2025, wheat was exported – 12.798 mln tonnes (815 thsd tonnes in March), barley – 2.193 mln tonnes (49 thsd tonnes), rye – 10.8 thsd tonnes (0), corn – 16.26 mln tonnes (1.68 mln tonnes).
Total exports of Ukrainian flour in the period under review are estimated at 52.2 thsd tonnes (3.7 thsd tonnes in March), including 48.3 thsd tonnes of wheat (3.6 thsd tonnes).
In January-February this year, Ukraine’s metallurgical enterprises reduced their revenues from ferrous metal exports by 19.8% year-on-year to $419.199 million.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS) on Tuesday, ferrous metals accounted for 6.67% of total export revenues during this period, compared to 7.67% in January-February 2014.
In February, export revenues amounted to $200.430 million.
At the same time, Ukraine increased imports of similar products by 3% to $228.165 million in January-February 2025. In February, products worth $113.656 million were imported.
In addition, in January-February 2025, Ukraine reduced exports of metal products by 5% to $144.730 million. In February, they were exported for $66.058 million.
Imports of metal products decreased by 4.7% to $137.982 million over the same period. In February, these products were imported for $61.614 million.
As reported earlier, in 2024, Ukrainian steelmakers increased revenues from ferrous metal exports by 16.9% year-on-year to $3 billion 96.343 million. At the same time, Ukraine increased imports of similar products by 13.1% to $1 billion 478.814 million last year. In December, products worth $108.227 million were imported.
In 2023, Ukraine reduced revenues from exports of ferrous metals by 41.6% compared to 2022, to $2 billion 647.72 million, with ferrous metals accounting for 7.3% of total revenues from exports of goods in this period, compared to 10.3% in 2022. At the same time, in 2023, Ukraine increased imports of similar products by 37% to $1 billion 307.05 million.
In addition, in 2023, Ukraine decreased exports of metal products by 16.6% year-on-year to $877.92 million, while imports of metal products increased by 40.3% to $902.57 million.
