A unique situation can be seen on the potato futures market, because the same price has never been recorded in week 3 in 26 consecutive years. In addition, for the April 2020 quote in week 27, the market is working towards a point where a direction is chosen.
The situation is therefore unprecedentedly exciting, especially considering what happened in the 2017 and 2018 harvest years. In 2017, the price fell to €10 in a short time and in 2018 the potato market rose (with an intermediate step at €20) to €30. However, the weather reports determine the tuberization of the potatoes in the current market; this in a season in which the European acreage has once again increased.
Weather is a merchant
The weather is (as in many seasons) the merchant. This certainly applies in a phase when little is known about the hectare yield. In the 2017 harvest year the penny fell the wrong way, especially because the month of July was changeable. An abundance of potatoes that season resulted in a market price that quickly dropped to less than €5 per 100 kilos.
Last season saw an almost unprecedented summer period. The market price rose in that season to €30 in a short time, and then remained at that level for almost the entire remainder of the season.