Potatoes from outside the French fries segment remain in demand. When we gauge the mood in the potato chip market, that's a different matter. Belgapom therefore posted a sharply lower quotation on Friday 5 April.
Belgapom quoted €5 for fries-suitable Fontane on Friday, April 25, which is considerably lower than last week (-€5). Bintje even dropped to €20. The fact is that the remainder of free potatoes is so small that there is little left to trade.
South of Europe
In the market for Agria and other similar varieties, for example, the purchasing desire comes from the fresh market. From the grower, the good quality Agria is easily paid €33 per 100 kilos (to be delivered these months). In addition to the demand from the fresh market, there is also demand from Southern Europe and Eastern Europe.
Countries such as Spain and Portugal ask for the cream of the crop, because they are spoiled by the supply of beautiful product from France. The question is therefore how long the supply from France can last, as various insiders see an early end to the season. This is mainly due to a lack of potatoes, which means that many storehouses will have to be swept in the foreseeable future.
More demand from Eastern Europe
In addition, demand from Eastern Europe is also increasing. Due to the mediocre harvest in countries such as Romania and Bulgaria, many potatoes have been exported from Poland to Central Europe in recent months. However, Poland is now entering the very tight Western European market in terms of supply.
In short: given the closing price of the futures market contract 'April 2019' (€26,50, which is €2 lower than 1 day earlier), the impression would be given that the race is over. However, the fact is that April has only just started and the 2019/2020 potato season will continue for a long time, given the potato supply.