Things are not going smoothly on the carrot market. A wide range is what characterizes the market. Growers, rinsers and commissioners alike are looking for sales opportunities. The knobs that can be turned to crank the trade are only limited.
The large supply of good carrots in Europe is hampering the trade this season and that is not changing yet. The long supply of carrots from the field does not help. Even now, reasonable carrots are still being harvested in the southwest. In the meantime, processors are having difficulty making the switch to carrots from storage. Growers do not want to drop below cost price this early in the storage season.
At the same time, the washers have difficulty in covering costs at the desired carrot prices. The result is that the carrot market is more or less closed. According to various insiders, the prices for rinsed carrots must increase to get the market moving again.
Prices go in all directions
A realistic market representation is again difficult to provide this week. Roughly speaking, prices range from €4 to €12 per 100 kilos. This bandwidth is because 'on land' and 'storage' are mixed up. Because the quality of carrots from the field varies considerably, it has been decided to base the DCA carrot quotation this week on the limited trade in carrots from storage.
The quotation for B-carrot this week is €10 per 100 kilos, with a price range of €8 to €12 per 100 kilos. The average price for C-carrot is €9 per 100 kilos. For good carrots from the field, if they are available, prices are between €4 and €8 per 100 kilos. The DCA listing thus takes a significant step compared to last week. That difference is not due to a change in the market, but to the choice to let carrots from storage be leading.