While brave dodos are still trying to get the potatoes above the ground, this is becoming increasingly hopeless. Harvesting is difficult and requires the utmost of man and machine. There is no speed at all in the harvesting and with that the days are long, with a lot of mud and few potatoes in the barn.
Rain is forecast for next week, making bringing in the last potatoes increasingly hopeless. In England it is said that 10% to 14% of the harvest still has to be harvested, and in the Netherlands this is still 3% to 5%. It is therefore becoming increasingly clear that not all potatoes come out of the ground. This explains why the futures market has slowly started to attack the $18 mark.
If the last potatoes are not harvested, the sentiment may turn further to 'positive'. England is an important link in this. At the moment, potatoes are already being shipped from France to the United Kingdom driven, in order to provide processors there with their raw material needs.
Quality is problem
Another issue is the quality. By harvesting in extremely wet conditions (and with the lower temperatures), not all potatoes came out unscathed. Storage issues have been reported. Getting the parties dry is a hell of a job. In addition, there are also lots that arrived with a lot of blue, and the baking quality has also been affected. The potatoes that were harvested last week also turned out to be browning; the low temperatures have converted the starch into sugars.
In the shorter term, this may create slight pressure on the physical market. Still, you can see that Belgapom quotes remain stable at €12,50 per 100 kilos, which could also indicate good demand outside the industries.
No buying appetite
The processors in the Netherlands show no desire to buy. They can serve themselves relatively well with the planned contract potatoes and would like to be able to serve the growers with quality problems if they present themselves. There is clear buying interest from the processors for delivery later in the season. Due to the possible loss of batches due to problems with quality, or the failure of the potatoes to be lifted, they would like to replace the cover with other potatoes. They want to keep the position closed.
Exports are going very well, which is remarkable for this time of year. This creates a strong foundation in the market, although it also provides an attractive alternative outlet for free potatoes and potatoes with problems on the inside. The question is whether, if the weather continues to be changeable next week, the last potatoes will be written off definitively, allowing the market to make the jump to €20.