The potato processing industry continued the positive flow in October. The processing figure is therefore able to keep up with last season's pace. The number of imported potatoes remains higher than last year.
In October, potato processors processed 340.100 tons into fries and other potato products. This is evident from the current processing figures that Vavi publishes every month. The processing figure is therefore approximately 6% higher than last month. In September, 318.700 tons were processed into fries and other potato products. The potato processing industry has therefore managed to maintain the positive flow of recent months.
Last season, the processing figure in October was 364.000 tons. Even then, the difference between the months of September and October was approximately 6%. In short: the processing industry maintains the same upward trend as last season, only with fewer potatoes. Processing over the past 12 months is therefore also slightly behind last season: 3,44 million tons have been processed to date compared to 3,84 million tons last season. This difference mainly arose at the beginning of the corona crisis. Especially in April and May the difference with last season huge.
Imports remain high
Of the total volume, 115.000 tons (33,8%) come from abroad. In percentage terms, this is more than last year, because last year 30,9% of the processed volume was imported. Since the total processing was higher that season, more tons were involved: 112.300 tons. Last month, a total of 161.500 tons were used for the production of pre-fried fries and 28.300 tons of potatoes were processed into other products.