Potato growers in the United States have more potatoes in stock than they did a year ago. This is partly due to a better yield achieved during the main harvest last fall. How big the difference is exactly, and what the consequences are for Europe, insiders read from Boerenbusiness.
While the final main potato harvest in 2015 was almost 18,1 million tons, last harvest year (2016) this was 300.000 tons more. It is mainly in the large potato states Idaho (3,45 million tons plus 7 percent) and Washington (2 million tons plus 7,1 percent) where stocks are still relatively large.
Another argument that the supply of potatoes is shrinking less rapidly can also be found in the intense struggle for worldwide sales of the end product. The dollar is expensive versus the euro, which has given French fry processors in Europe a significant competitive advantage over their competitors in the US over the past year.