Gala apples enter the late sales period, prices may rebound

For the apple industry, last year and this year have both been very unusual years: last year apple purchase prices were high, up about 20% year-on-year, while apple storage volumes increased. However, affected by the broader economic downturn, consumers' purchasing power declined, and combined with competition from other fruits, starting in March this year Shaanxi apples, like apples across the country, saw low prices and difficulty selling, and at one point purchase prices and retail prices were even inverted.

This year the overall market launch period for Gala apples was delayed by about a week compared with previous years, mainly because accumulated temperatures in the earlier period were relatively low, and the dry air with low humidity was not conducive to coloring of the fruit surface. As the volume of apples coming onto the market increased in various production areas, Gala apple quotes remained on a downward trend.

In Shandong production areas, Gala trading entered the mid-to-late period in late August, with few good-quality goods, and quotes in various production areas rose to varying degrees, with increases of 0.1-0.2 yuan/jin. In Rizhao, Yantai, Pingdu and other places, Red Star and Red General apples have all been bag-removed, basically rushing to market before the Mid-Autumn Festival. The pre-sale price of Red General is 1.5 yuan/jin, and Red Star apples are around 1.2 yuan/jin. In Shanxi production areas, local overall trading was average, supply volume shrank, and overall redness was insufficient, with most goods being neither green nor yellow. In Shaanxi production areas, Gala entered the stage of rotation among production areas; in Luochuan, Fu County and other places Gala entered the peak marketing period, but overall quality was average, redness was insufficient, and quotes were generally low. In Liaoning, Gala apples had just begun to be marketed in large volumes, overall trading was relatively active, and quotes for paper-bag Gala remained stable at 1.7-2 yuan/jin.

Currently the environment is favorable for Gala apple trading: temperatures in northern regions have dropped noticeably, demand for heat-relieving fruits is gradually being replaced by demand for autumn fruits, driving a strong recovery in apple market demand. Apple shipment volumes at wholesale markets in various places have generally increased, and movements are relatively faster than in the earlier period. In addition, students across the country are returning to school from home and the Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching; these two favorable conditions have prompted traders to begin entering production areas to look for goods and inspect goods, and trading activity in production areas has clearly increased, thereby causing Gala quotes in production areas to rebound slightly.

This year Gala overall quality is on the low side, with generally poor coloring, resulting in a relatively large shortfall of apple supply with sufficient coloring, and quotes for this portion of apples have consistently remained high. Major Gala production areas have generally entered the late sales period, overall supply volume has shrunk, and the shortfall of good goods has further expanded, providing a basis for a rebound in Gala apple quotes.