The potatoes for the 2025 harvest were planted early. But the wind keeps blowing in the north and east and that usually means (also now) no rain. That could be an ingredient for mood on the potato market. In the DCA EU-4 Potato Index we see nothing of that (yet).
Many growers probably had different ideas about the potato market in May. Any form of buying desire is virtually absent, we can say. Where in the past two years everything that even remotely resembled a potato was picked up by the processing industry, the bar for quality is now being raised considerably. Incidentally, there is also very limited trade in high-quality potatoes. Growers who still have free time are still able to give away a little of the line, and the industry usually has its work in order enough that they can continue for a while.
Unanimity about bottom
Despite the lack of interest in potatoes, the EU-4 listed companies have managed to get a price on the board this week. The lower end Fontane is at €7,50 in Belgium and Germany. The Netherlands stayed just above that with €8 and France put €10 on the board. With €15 at the top of category 1 and even €28 for Agria, the Dutch listing remains a bit of an odd one out. Germany was the only one with €14 that came close to the PotatoNL.
The DCA EU-4 Potato Index this week comes out at €10,99 per 100 kilos. That is €0,95 lower than a week earlier. The moment that the index falls below €10 is now very close. That was last in 2021 when we were in the middle of the corona crisis. With extensive processing capacity for fries and considerable capacity at the flake and starch lines, various experts estimated the theoretical bottom in the market to be higher than where we are now moving towards.