Kartoffeln Cockpit, 18.10.2019

On the areas that were sprinkled in the summer - after all, this is 70% in the Netherlands - the precipitation now builds up especially. Lighter soils were harvested at our neighbors but only to 40-50%. Already at the beginning of the week, VTA, the potato association, announced that storage had stalled and that there was a shortage of supply for immediate demand. As a result, prices rose somewhat, which is rather unusual at this time of the year. Already the week before wetness affected the British potato harvest. Since then, there has hardly been any progress in clearing land. The unmistakable sign of a supply shortage was that consumers had to resort to freely available potatoes during the harvest season. Since it does not look like a golden October and the days are getting shorter, which reduces the evaporation rates, there is no improvement in sight for the time being. There are also difficult weather conditions this year in the main processing region for processing raw materials in the USA. In the state of Idaho, where potatoes are grown almost exclusively for processing into fries, there was an early frost break in the last week.The harvest was only 80% finished. The frost was so strong that you now have to expect significant failures. Already in 2018 the farmers experienced a similar disaster on the Canadian Atlantic island Prince Edward Island. The world's already scarce supply of raw materials for the production of French fries is obviously getting worse again this year, while demand for the golden potato sticks continues to rise on the world market. The misery of the US fry industry could turn out to be a competitive advantage for EU fries suppliers. Already in the last two years they have been selling increasing amount of TP potato products to North America. The North Americans are the only serious competitors on the world market for the EU French fries manufacturers. What the Americans in the last year, the fry producers from the EU market share have decreased, they could now bring back. The German potato harvest has meanwhile progressed much further. Food potatoes are likely to be completely in winter storage and warehouse owners are already demanding Lageraufschläge. Schwitzverluste, a higher workload and a cost compensation for the constant readiness to deliver justify this requirement.This is true for Packstations and the food retailer for approval, so that no resistance can be expected from there. Processing raw material is available in this country but still from the field. Easier soils are faster accessible after rainfall. On heavy soils, however, most German potatoes from the 2019 harvest are already safe. Traders and farmers in the German surplus regions have benefited from steady international demand for consumer potatoes since the beginning of the early potato harvest. Since Niedersachsen contributed almost 50% of the German potato harvest this year, the market is watching with interest as to how the offer will develop from there. Demand for this again comes from the Czech Republic this year. The supply requirement of the small neighboring country in the east is estimated at at least 100,000 tons. Because of their geographical proximity, almost exclusively potatoes from Lower Saxony, Bavaria and East German federal states come into question. Under these conditions, the warehouse keepers offer their harvest very disciplined even in this year in coordination with the collection trade. There are virtually no print jobs on the market and if so, then the smaller peeling companies are quickly on the spot.All these are not only good conditions for a successful marketing season for German potato growers. If you have your potatoes in the barn, you can wait for the winter business.