Normally, throughout the season, the Dutch Potato Organization (NAO) reports the export figures every month. In principle there is nothing wrong with that, but it is usually the case that the import figures for consumption and industrial potatoes exceed the export figure.
For example, the potato import figure for the month of February 2017 was 103.300 tons. Almost 17.000 tons of potatoes were destined for the starch industry. Last year in February the import figure, at 102.000 tons, was comparable. In 2016, 17.000 tons were also intended for starch processing.
The export figure for the month of February, with 56.500 tons, was well behind the export figure for February 2016. That year the figure was set at 73.600 tons. The difference, in a positive sense, between the total export figure for the 2016 harvest (500.000 tons) is only 10.000 tons.