The potato processing industry in the United States is showing solid growth figures for almost all segments. The worldwide demand for potato products is good. Thanks to a European shortage, processors in the country have benefited greatly.
The figures on the global trade in frozen fries showed previously also indicated that the United States is doing good business. These figures refer to the month of July this year. The trade war with China may be a major obstacle to many (agricultural) products, but this is not yet the case for potatoes.
Significantly more end product
The United States confirms this picture with its own figures. In July, 13,5% more potato products were exported than 1 year earlier, which represents an increase of almost 45.000 tons of end product. Exports of table potatoes, frozen potato products and dried products all increased. The market for chips, on the other hand, remained stable. The fresh products segment grew by more than 40%.
The frozen potato products segment (mainly fries) grew by almost 7% in volume in July. The total of 82.500 tons of frozen potato products is a record for this month. The old record, from 2017, was almost 3.000 tons lower. It is striking that the country also imported significantly more product. This volume is higher than exports in tonnes.
Taking advantage of the European deficit
Japan is the United States' largest customer and this country purchased fewer fries last summer. Due to the lifting of the import tariff, exports to Mexico increased by 35%. China is also a major buyer and ranks third, after Japan and Mexico. Exports to the Middle East increased by almost 3%. The reason for this is that European processors were unable to satisfy the hunger for fries, partly due to a lack of end product. Central and South America also bought more fries in the United States.
The market for dried potato products (for example flakes, flour and granules) in America has also clearly noticed that European processors were unable to maintain their volumes. The United States exported almost 3.000 more tons of product between April and June. However, Europe exported 11.000 tons less in the same period, meaning the market remains in deficit. Processors in the United States were unable to sufficiently benefit from demand due to a lack of potatoes and processing capacity.
Dried potato products
A shortage is expected to remain noticeable on the global market in the coming months. Although the potato volume has increased considerably, the demand from processors is also high. This makes the market for dried potato products uncertain. American processors do not think that Europe will have production up to standard in the short term. The harvest in the EU-5 may be larger compared to 2018, but the yields are disappointing in many places. Coupled with a large need for raw materials, they expect the market for dried products to remain undernourished.