The most current figures (published on Thursday 8 February) from the Interprovincial Test Center for Potato Cultivation (PCA) and Fiwap show that the stock of free potatoes is large. The high yield per hectare is to blame for this. After all, many extra (free) potatoes were put into storage outside the contract.
Of the total stock of potatoes (early February: 2,8 million tons), 50% can still be sold freely in Flanders, while in Wallonia this would be 40%. The freely sold volume of potatoes would therefore amount to 1,2 million tons, compared to 600.000 tons in the 2016 harvest year and 800.000 tons in the 2015 harvest year.
In the 2014/2015 season, which was also poor from a price perspective, the share of potatoes available for sale was approximately 1 million tons, out of a total stock of 2,2 million tons.
Higher than in previous season
The total stock is estimated at more than 2,8 million tons at the beginning of February. That is still 60% of the total potato harvest. In the 3 previous seasons, almost half of the potatoes had already been cleared. In numerical terms, the stock of potatoes at the beginning of February is 700.000 higher than in the 3 previous seasons.
The share of the Bintje variety is decreasing rapidly, in favor of Fontane in particular. The total stock of the Fontane variety would still be 1,12 million tons at the beginning of February. Much Fontane is contracted, but due to the more than large hectare yield (in combination with the growing area), there are almost 3 times more free Fontane available (compared to the 2016 harvest year).
Expansion of processing
As expected, sales of potatoes have increased considerably due to the expansion of processing. Including the early potatoes, more than 2,3 million tons of potatoes have been delivered until the end of January. In the period between November 2017 and February 1, 2018 alone, no less than 1 million tons of potatoes were delivered. Due to rot, among other things, some of the potatoes delivered would not have made it to the factory.
The PCA also reports that a large number of growers experience the storage season as difficult. One reason for the storage problems is that more potatoes were brought into storage than planned, which, among other things, resulted in pressure points. The ventilation capacity is also not always sufficient in the often overcrowded storage.