Now that the main harvest is almost over, the bill can be drawn up when it comes to the hectare yields and the quality of the potatoes. In addition to the fact that the average hectare yield in Belgium and the Netherlands in particular has been lower than expected in mid-September, the quality is also currently an issue.
For some farmers, the grapes are very sour, after they often have to deliver the potatoes earlier than planned after an expensive growing season. In some cases, it even goes so far that the intended end station (chip factory) is partially or not reached. The final loss item is easy to guess!
Compelling offer
The pressure on the boiler due to unplanned supply due to quality issues is not helping the market at the moment. The pressure is expected to remain on the boiler for the time being. However, now that the harvest is behind us, an upward trend can be observed on the market. For example, the bottom of the price for French fries potatoes is €15 per 100 kilos for Fontane, rising to €23 (Reka quotation Friday 29 November) for Innovator. Good quality potatoes are and will be demanded and paid for; the return per kilogram of processed product is after all decisive.
As the cards are now shuffled, an average price of French fries potatoes later in the storage season towards the contract price seems possible. The futures market quotation for April 2025 also shows this picture with a current price of €27,50. Of course, other scenarios are also possible; after all, the potato is round.
Will the mood falter later in the storage season due to the lagging processing figures as a result of the reduced sales of the end product? Or will the potato market be pushed up to higher price levels by the developments in the fresh and export market? Already now, prices are being made in the segment outside the regular French fries market that vary from €23 per 100 kilos for Jelly to €30 for Agria, intended for export to England among others (source: TransactieApp).