The trade in potatoes from the 2021 harvest on the futures market is over. The latest contracts were traded on Thursday, June 2. At what price are the outstanding contracts settled?
The still open positions are settled at €24,80, the cash settlement (CS) of week 22. Compared to a week (€25.30), the CS is €0,50 lower. The score of week 21 was therefore also the highest of the season. The strong price recovery in the potato market at the beginning of May resulted in significantly higher prices and thus a price jump for the CS, which was still trading at €17 in week 21. At the end of March this was still €18,60.
March dip
The significant price increase after the dip in March (CS was still trading at €20,60 at the end of February) from €18,60 at the end of March to €25,30 at the end of May appears to be stagnating. The first signs are the drop of the CS this week to €24,80, all this happening in a very short period of time.
The contribution for the CS, which is collected more at the beginning of the week for the Netherlands, Belgium and France, still averaged over €25,50. The contribution for Germany, which came in on Thursday, was €22,41. After the significant price increases, with market prices of €25 and sometimes even more, the handbrake seems to be on today. For example, on the PAT on Thursday, June 2, there were transactions of €20 for Ramos and Innovator, for example, and there were so few transactions in Belgium that Belgapom was not even able to list.
Lock uncertain
It is nothing new that a potato market proceeds in fits and starts at the end of the storage season. The current situation is very special. Have the buyers who paid €25 less than a week ago settled? And is the supply now so excessive that no more people are buying, so that no price (read: quote) can be put on the board? In short, a season with an erratic price trend, the outcome of which is uncertain for the long-term storer who still has to pay for potatoes.{{dataviewSnapshot(2_1654240579)}}