Seed potato exports bigger than ever

With a total of 824.109 tons of seed potatoes, a record amount of seed potatoes was exported from the 2016 harvest. A large part of this is sold within the EU: 446.769 tonnes compared to 430.644 tonnes from the 2015 harvest.

Major consumer Belgium bought so much that exports rose above 100.000 tons for the first time. The figures do not say whether this was planted in its entirety in Belgium or whether some of it was planted with land in France by Belgian growers or resold via the port of Antwerp.

Text continues below the chartSeed potato exports to Belgium over the years.

France chooses orange
The number is at least double compared to 15 years ago. Compared to the low point in 2007, this is an increase of 150% (see graph). Of the other EU-5 countries, France and the United Kingdom also bought more seed potatoes, with the French purchasing more than 4.700 tons more than last year. Germany actually imported less, but is still in second place in the total ranking with 83.037 tons.

Spain increases, Turkey halves
It is also striking that Spain and Portugal imported more than usual. Portugal, with 21.276 tonnes, is more than 1.300 tonnes higher than a year ago, Spain imported over 5.600 tonnes more, reaching 51.904 tonnes. It is precisely there that there are now poor consumer prices due to one mega harvest. 

For customers in the rest of Europe, the volumes do not differ greatly from previous years, except for: Turkey. There the trade halved from 18.000 to 9.000 tons. However, it is not shocking, because exports always fluctuate greatly. This is because the Turks want to be as self-sufficient as possible and have to grow imported seed potatoes at least once.

Text continues below the chartSeed potato exports from harvest 2000 to harvest 2016

Asia increases sharply
Trade with the Americas grew. Brazil purchased slightly less, but Cuba (10.710 tons), Honduras, Jamaica and Nicaragua purchased significantly more. A significant increase can also be seen in Asia. The most sensational is the climb in war zone Syria. Despite the unrest in the region, Syrians bought almost 10.000 tons more seed potatoes than the year before.

Of all destinations in Asia, Saudi Arabia is the largest buyer of Dutch seed potatoes with 26.125 tons, followed by Syria with 22.830 tons and Israel is in third place with 18.669 tons.

Export to Africa is tilting
Also a few notable shifts in sales to Africa. Firstly, exports to the continent fell by more than 15.000 tonnes to 183.667 tonnes. The causes of this are Algeria (from 83.649 tons to 73.145 tons), Libya (9.474 tons, up from 14.073 tons), Morocco (from 33.837 tons to 28.873 tons) and Sudan (from 7.472 tons to 4.781 tons).

Dat Algeria around 10.000 tons lower is no surprise. The country has tinkered with the import quota in recent months and imposed demands on the variety package. This is to prevent foreign exchange from flowing out of the country. A positive outlier is Egypt, which imported a good 10.000 tons more seed potatoes, reaching 55.503 tons.