Bizarre market development in potatoes

In relative terms, why is the potato market not participating? It is the question the growers are asking. Now that the ex-land period has been completed and the storage potatoes are continued, the price does not seem to affect this. Right from the early harvest, the price formed around/just above $25, peaking at $30. The market does nowadays not much more.

Processing figures
The surprise among growers is increasing now that the processing figures show that processing is at record levels. This could be a signal for stock building in the cold stores. However, recent export figures of pre-baked product It turns out that several records are being broken here too.

It is increasingly appearing that the current potato market only moves in the summer and thus sets the price for the rest of the season. Only the connection to/from the new season then provides a new price incentive. The futures market fell back to €6 in the summer of last year, only to barely move until the end of April. Now the futures market is making an opposite move towards $30 and the market is dead silent.

Physical market is also quiet
Even the physical market is quite quiet and looking at the Platform Potato Transactions (PAT) hardly any transactions seem to take place. In tonnage of the total volume of potatoes in the Netherlands, it is really minimal.

De chips potato price is slightly higher than the export potato price, which makes export more difficult and is described as calm. This also ensures that part of the export potatoes flows to the industry. In addition, the table potato price is also slightly below the chip potato price, which means that these also flow towards the industry.

Despite the low volume, the processors are still in control of the market. By sliding in the contract volume (peanut butter method) and a compelling offer from parties with quality problems, the growers remain at the mercy of the demand from the industry.

Export market
Insiders report that a price below €25 is not in the best interests of the processors, as the export market will then get going. A price above €30, on the other hand, would have an inhibiting effect on the sales of French fries. This means that the potato price seems to be caught in a trading range of €27 to €30.

The battle that has arisen in onions, carrots and celeriac appears to be partly due to the potato market. The past seasons indicate that one has to be patient until spring comes sooner or later.