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Few free potatoes left in Belgium
The Belgian potato stock is considerably lower at the beginning of April than last year, but is still above the five-year average.
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Choose the subscription that suits youPCA estimates the Belgian potato stock at 1,61 million tons. This means that the stock is 9% smaller than last year in April. Compared to the five-year average, a plus 2,5% is visible. There are proportionately fewer free potatoes and more potatoes on contract. On the reference date at the beginning of April, 375.000 tons were still available in Belgian sheds, while the average of the past five years is 480.000 tons. At harvest, the number of free potatoes was approximately equal to the five-year average. Only in 2016 and 2018 there were fewer free potatoes at the beginning of April.
Contract potatoes account for 1,23 million tons. That is 6% less than last year, but 13% above the five-year average. The total quantity of contracted potatoes is currently the second largest ever. PCA also notes that the processing capacity of the industry has expanded considerably in recent years. Fontane is, with a share of 63%, the most important variety stored by Belgian growers. Bintje and Challenger follow at a considerable distance, with 5% and 6% respectively. Innovator follows with less than 3%.
More early potatoes
For the coming season, the Research Center for Potato Cultivation in Flanders predicts a growth of 2% in the area of consumption potatoes. That brings the area to 50.000 hectares. The prediction is based on a survey among 127 growers. PCA does keep a close eye on things; Some of the growers did not yet know what the final area would be at the time they completed the questionnaire.
The area growth mainly comes from the early potato segment: the cultivation of early potatoes among the participants is being expanded by 16,5%. If this becomes a reality for Flanders, the area will increase from 6.000 hectares to more than 7.000 hectares. The area of late chip varieties is increasing marginally (by just under 1%). The limited number of growers with chip varieties who completed the survey also indicate that they will plant slightly more. The PCA cannot make any statements about table potatoes. The fresh segment is too small for that.
