With the fright still in their legs after the extremely wet autumn and winter last year, growers did not delay harvesting the carrots this year. This is now noticeable on the market. Carrots that have to go into cooling have been harvested and that has also made the trade a lot quieter.
Growers and washers are having some trouble finding each other. The cold stores are full and the carrots that are being traded are intended for direct processing. Quite a bit is being shipped to Eastern Europe, but the demand is not such that washers are hunting for carrots from the growers. Growers who still have carrots in stock do feel pressure to sell. It is almost December, so if the weather permits, they would like to harvest.
Despite the fact that the carrots generally looked good, there are still some quality problems here and there. Partly, these are carrots that still have to be harvested and that were waited for until a buyer came along, but some insiders report that there are also some problem batches coming out of the cold store.
Because there is relatively little trade, it is difficult to give a good representation of the market in the DCA Carrot Listing. Growers with good carrots in the cold store are keeping their doors closed at the current prices. What is being done are generally the parties with a story. The DCA listing for b and c carrots this week amounts to €10 to €12 per 100 kilos.
Read here is the explanation from DCA Market Intelligence on the new quotations.