Kartoffeln News, 10/28/2022

Prices on the EEX were weaker over the course of the week and prices for the April 23 contract also fell back to 23.00 euros/dt with the start of trading on Friday. Interest in trading has increased recently. With 3,253 open contracts, open interest at the end of October is 250 contracts higher than on September 30, 2022. In addition to the weaker cash markets, the surprisingly large Dutch harvest figures also had an impact on the price development. With 7.3 million tons of potatoes, significantly more were harvested than in 2021 (6.7 million tons). The Dutch are just about to reach their record year 2017, when around 7.4 million tons were harvested. With 3.9 million tons, the larger share of the harvest is accounted for by ware and processing potatoes, while seed and starch potatoes show declining areas and harvest volumes. The spot market situation for processing potatoes remains calm, with trading activity declining even further. If free quantities are purchased, excess quantities from contract cultivation are usually purchased at more favorable conditions.The storage of the goods has already been completed by many producers, so existing field goods should be marketed quickly, which is currently proving difficult. Due to the high temperatures in October, it is also more difficult to cool down the goods. In Belgium, Belgapom lowered Fontane's listing by EUR 2.50. The volume of tubers offered here is significantly larger than the current demand. Here, a quieter export business also makes it more difficult to market free goods quickly. The food market is currently balanced . Producer prices remain stable, even if a public holiday is likely to slow down trade somewhat in the coming week.