Moldova is ranked 19 in the world in annual production volume of grapes, according to the latest data (2007) UN Fund for Agriculture, says a study released Friday at a forum in Chisinau table grapes. Annual production of grapes in Moldova, both technical and variety of the table, amounts to 600,000 tons, a drop of almost 2% in recent years. Moldova is overtaken by Romania, where annual production is 800 thousand tons of grapes, but is placed before Uzbekistan in the annual harvest of 600,000 tonnes. The largest producer of grapes is Italy - more than 8.5 million tons of grapes annually, followed by France (6.5 million) and China (6.3 million). On the other hand, the largest purchaser of grapes are the U.S., with imports of 595,000 tons annually, followed by Russia - and Germany 407,000 tonnes - 306,000 tonnes. Moldova exports only 20,000 tons of table grapes, being among the 20 largest exporters of these products. Moldovan export prices to producers are however two or even three times smaller than the main competitors.

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