Quality a big issue
There's a little music in the carrot market again
Carrot washing and packing companies have done a lot of work in the run-up to the holidays. There is a bit of music in the carrot trade again. Especially in the long run, business is done for good quality product.
Many export countries placed extra orders for the holidays and exporters were working overtime. Cold stores are still full of carrots, but people are still thinking more positively about sales. Especially in the long term trading can be done. However, there is a big downside to this, because the quality is a serious setback for many growers.
Quality
Insiders agree that the quality is disappointing to say the least. Traders who have been in the business for years say they have never seen anything like it before. All possible diseases and problems are found; point rot, curve, mouse eating, carrot fly, phytophthora, spots and rings and cavity spot.
Parties that seemed good a month ago now show something different. The worst quality has already been cleaned up, but in the short term the supply is large and the demand can be called tame. Earning from carrots is a matter of patience.
Long-term
Lots that are not too coarse and of good quality are becoming scarce. The traders switch to doing business in order to capture these carrots. The idea is that demand for carrots can arise, especially late in the season. To do this, the crops must remain in place at least until May.
There are quality problems in all growing areas. Heavy rainfall in the fall is the main cause of this. Heavy rain showers closed the ground and caused a lack of oxygen. That causes misery. North Holland received the most rain in the months of September and October. "There is no 1 good party to be found," says a trader.
Stable prices
The low quality means that the supply continues to come, while exports are slowing down. In week 1 Beurs Emmeloord noted a price range of €8 to €11 per 100 kilos for B carrots from storage. The second week brought a slight increase on the downside, to $9 per 100 kilos. This price range has been used since the last weeks of the year, but has always increased slightly. In Middenmeer, the price is slightly lower at €5 to €10 per 100 kilos. There, the year ended with €5 to €8.
In the long term, business is done up to €100 per box, which is about €15 per 100 kilos. This concerns delivery from May to the end of the season. Traders are cautious with their price predictions, although sentiment is slightly more positive than before the turn of the year.
no frost
A lot of rain has also fallen in Germany and Poland. So the problems there are similar. Sometimes there are still crops in the ground. This is also the case in the Netherlands, although only a few parties are involved. A lack of severe frost means that these crops may still be able to be harvested. Especially in Northern Germany it is said that there is still quite a lot of carrots in the ground.
On average, about 650 to 700 kilos are flushed from a crate. This year it is rather around 500 to 550 kilos. That is a significant difference, which means that there is more of a shortage among the processors. This was clearly noticeable before the holidays. The question also remains how parties in refrigeration will develop further. In addition to quality problems, there is also more soil in the box, as a result of the wet harvesting conditions.
Niels van der Boom
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