The French potato processing industry is facing a meager end to the 2016-2017 season. The stock of potatoes is one of the smallest in the past eight seasons. Free chips potatoes are hardly in stock. The stock of table potatoes is also very low.
According to potato growers' organization UNPT On April 1, 954.000 tons of potatoes were still in storage. This is divided into 590.000 tons of chip potatoes and 364.000 tons of table potatoes. This means the stock is 160.000 tons lower than last season. Only in April 2011 was the stock slightly lower. On April 1, 880.000 tons of product were still in stock. The stock of French fries potatoes on that date amounted to half a million tons.
Hardly any free potatoes
The share of contract potatoes still in stock is the same as the last three years. The stock measurement is mainly lower due to the smaller share of potatoes that can be sold freely. These are hardly available. A recognizable image for this season.
626.000 tons processed
During the previous stock measurement, on March 1 this year, 1,58 million tons were still in stock. In one month, 626.000 tons of potatoes were sold and processed. If April has passed at the same pace, this means that 1 tons of potatoes will still be in stock on May 328.000. This once again underlines that everything depends on the connection between the old stock and the new harvest. There are also hardly any free potatoes for sale elsewhere in Europe.
Cold and dry
Almost all the potatoes are now in the ground, but it is very dry in the north and east of France. The development of early potatoes is disadvantaged by the cold weather. It was also only 5 to 6 degrees around Bordeaux in the second half of April. There was no night frost, but it was dry. Intermediate 27 mm compared to 60 mm normal in April.