Inside Potatoes
Current growth figures ensure higher term
With another week behind us, new growth figures are becoming available. The figures show that, as most experts have already indicated, the development of potato crops is far below par.
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Choose the subscription that suits youThe rain in some growing areas (particularly in the north of the Netherlands) has resulted in some improvement. However, from a European perspective, there is still virtually no precipitation fallen.
More than bad
Especially in the most important growing areas of Germany (with the exception of the state of Bavaria), as various stakeholders have already indicated, it is more than bad. Growers in the north of France, where many French fries potatoes are grown, and Belgium are also concerned about the final hectare yield of their plots.
Various figures show that the average hectare yield of, for example, Bintje in Flanders is less than 30 tons per hectare, with 115 growing days behind it. The average growth of Bintje in previous years was approximately 40 tons per hectare. In Wallonia, where there is little or no irrigation, there is negative about the final potato harvest.
The growers report a current average hectare yield of 30 tons for Innovator, compared to almost 50 tons last season. However, that was an exceptional year in terms of growth. In addition, an average of 2015 tons per hectare was harvested in the 2016 and 40 harvest years.
Fixed mood in the market
New insights (with September just around the corner) ensure a persistently steady mood in the physical market, which (depending on the variety) costs between €25 per 100 kilos (for Folva) and €28 per 100 kilos (for Innovator). moves. The futures market showed some recovery at the end of the week, with a closing level of €30,80. This is after trading below €29,50 earlier in the week.
There isn't much incentive to buy above the €30 level, which makes some sense. This is because the futures market in the era of the euro/cash settlement has never settled above €17 in week 30. This season will therefore have to be the exception to the statistics, which given the exceptional situation (with regard to the expected potato harvest in the EU-5) is certainly not impossible. 
The potato futures market (April contract) is showing a stable trend.