In recent weeks, the potato market has made the long-awaited step back to its pre-war level. After a somewhat hesitant rise in the PotatoNL listing this week, Belgium and France appeared to be gaining more quickly.
When Belgapom finally made the step to the €8 level on Friday April 20, the way was clear for both the physical and futures markets to reflect a clearly friendlier undertone of the potato market and show transactions of €20 and higher.
However, the recovery did not immediately cause a rally to higher price levels, as processors do not seem to be eager enough in the market for that. Processors still have access to contract potatoes and therefore do not have to actively look for free potatoes. This does not mean that if these come along, processors will run away from them. Because every potato is one.
Encourages traders
The vote is made by the non-processors. Traders who sell to other segments are clearly more active in the market and also pay significantly more for free potatoes. The Agria and Markies varieties in particular are sought after and prices are paid for them by non-processors of up to €25, depending on the quality. The potatoes must be good, so that traders can use them for export, peeling and the chip industry.
Poland, Switzerland and Southern Europe require potatoes and it is expected that England will also enter the market. Part of the export is also made up of oversized seed potatoes that appear to be in ample supply. Less seed potatoes are sold as seed potatoes, which creates a lot of leftovers on the consumer market. Moreover, they can be purchased for slightly less money than free consumption potatoes. This competition for processors means that they have to operate sharply in the purchasing channel and potato owners also notice this. There are many possible price structures, especially for delivery in June/July.
The futures market for the April 2022 contract is approaching its expiration (settlement). The Cash Settlement (CS) is calculated daily. Is the CS able to continue to rise towards €23 in the next two weeks with a plus? The various listings will still have to make significant steps to achieve this. It is especially exciting what Belgapom and Germany will do with their listings. With the higher quotations for the better potatoes, the Netherlands seems to be able to contribute to a settlement that is higher than the current CS of €20,30.{{dataviewSnapshot(2_1650025925)}}