While the market on Friday 5 April was surprised to look at the reduction that Belgapom implemented for the Belgian market, the surrounding countries do not seem to be following this extremely sharp fall (yet) immediately.
Belgapom noted Friday April 5 for Fontane €25 and for Bintje €20 and that had major consequences for the futures market, because it immediately fell back to €26,50. The potato futures market showed a slight recovery on Monday, April 8, although confidence must first be regained. The unpredictable behavior of the Belgian listing also caused the cash settlement to nosedive, making it difficult to find buyers.
Europe is not following
Tuesday, April 9 was an important indicator for the rest of Europe. PCA/Fiwap kicked off the day with their Belgian grower award. This was also reduced by €4, but ultimately remained at €26 for Fontane. The French showed a quote of €27,50, which is €1,50 higher than the Belgian PCA/Fiwap quote.
The PotatoNL quotation was €9 on Tuesday, April 30,25, which is a decrease of €0,50. This is in stark contrast to Belgapom's reduction on Friday, April 5. At PotatoNL the quotation for 'category II' even increased by €0,25. This was partly caused by good demand for Agria, because that variety was traded smoothly last week for peeling and export.
Looking across Europe, demand for Fontane (with delivery in the next 14 days) is currently €27. However, there is actually no offer. So it remains guessing which has led to this reduction in the Belgapom listing.
Little to offer
In addition, the physical market is quiet and there is little demand. However, the supply is also very limited, as there are few free potatoes available due to the low yield. There will not be much supply in the coming weeks, because many potato growers have now started spring work. Now that spring work has started, the growers' priority is not on delivering their product. This is something that can stabilize the market.
De early potatoes are all but a hair in the ground and that gives buyers less tension before the end of the season. The potatoes in Bordeaux also seem to be developing well, a number of processors say. However, the start of the harvest of the early potatoes will mainly be determined by the weather conditions. In any case, it will remain very chilly next week for the development of the potatoes.