Potatoes News, 10th / May / 2024

Prices on the processing market continue to rise. Reka increased its quotation for all varieties by 3 euros/dt today. This puts the price for Innovator at 43 euros/dt. Challenger is quoted at 40 euros/dt and Agria can achieve 41 euros/dt. The difficult growing conditions for the early varieties are becoming increasingly noticeable. Producers are hardly prepared to clear free lots from storage for prices below 40 euros. All in all, there are few tubers in the growers' warehouses anyway that are not contractually bound. In Belgium, the planting of early varieties also continues to cause problems. Rainfall is repeatedly reported here, which is causing the tractors to stand still. In Flanders in particular, planting is far behind schedule. After prices in Belgium had remained at a level of 35 euros/dt for weeks, they rose by 5 euros to 40 euros/dt in the previous week.

On the table potato market, the storage potato season is slowly but surely coming to an end, and thus also very early. Only remaining quantities are still being traded. In southern Germany, food retailers have already switched to imported potatoes across the board and in the north and east, imported goods are also increasingly on the shelves. In southwest Germany, there are already a few quantities of early potatoes in the Lower Rhine region. These are being offered in direct marketing for 132 euros per tonne, but the quantities harvested are still far from sufficient to be offered in the food retail sector. Growers everywhere are busy planting the main harvest. Only a few stocks have been started so far.