There are certainly not many growers left who wonder whether the market for old harvest potatoes will be all right. They've emptied the barn. A number of long-term keepers who have yet to deliver, have a bad night's sleep during this period.
Just think, in mid-May the market price of, for example, Fontane rose in a short time towards the level of €25 per 100 kilos, but then went into a kind of nosedive. According to the most current REKA quotation from Friday 8 July, €12,50 to €15,00 for both Challenger and Fontane. However, insiders report €12,50 per 100 kilos is the maximum price that can be made for the aforementioned varieties. Attempts are made to get rid of as many potatoes as possible around this market price. The transition to the new potatoes is coming. A bulldozer market. So with a surplus of old potatoes to start with, the new season gets off to a false start.
Resurrection
Still, the long-term keeper with old potatoes in his stomach is going to focus on the weather reports (dry and summery weather) and draw a little bit of hope from them. The weather type that is expected has ensured that the futures market of the April 2023 contract has increased by more than € 1 (more than 2,50%) compared to Friday 10 July to € 21,50 (highest quotation during the trading day Friday July 8 €22). It won't be the first time a market has been dead and buried and resurrected. In view of the status of the new harvest potatoes, an increase in the market price of the old harvest is small. The grower with the old potatoes no longer has much to lose. The loss from a market price of almost €25 to just under €12,50 has already been made.