Only 16,600 tons of seed potatoes were imported into Egypt in September-October 2023 – the lowest amount in the previous six years, according to market analysts. Comparing this to the same period last season – which usually runs from September to February – there was a stark drop.

According to information gathered by EastFruit market analysts, Egypt would import the fewest seed potatoes in at least six previous seasons during the first two months of autumn 2023. Because the market for ware potatoes is impacted by the lagged effect of seed potato imports, analysts predict that this could hurt the yield and export of ware potatoes from Egypt in the upcoming marketing year of 2024–2025.

One of the biggest producers and exporters of potatoes worldwide is Egypt. According to analyst Yevhen Kuzin, the nation was placed 12th in the world in terms of production in 2022. In the meantime, Egypt imports more seed potatoes than any other country in the world (behind Belgium), and these imports are essential to the composition of Egypt’s domestic crop.

Egypt imports between 110,000 and 150,000 tons of seed potatoes each autumn and winter. These potatoes are used to produce ware potatoes the following season by multiplying under local circumstances. Therefore, as early as December 2024, there may be serious issues with the availability of high-quality ware potatoes due to a steep fall in seed potato imports during the current season.

“The decline in seed potato imports in Egypt is partly due to the economic problems in this country, such as the devaluation of the pound and the shortage of foreign exchange reserves. However, from September 2022 to February 2023, imports of seed potatoes in Egypt were record-breaking despite all the problems. Moreover, Egyptian exporters in 2023 were able to make a good profit on the export of table potatoes, so the financial factor is not the main one. The key reason for falling imports is the deficit of seed potatoes in the EU in 2023,” Kuzin explained.

The European Union’s top supplier of ware potatoes is Egypt, whose export season is between February and July when the European potato campaign is in full swing. Even with Egypt’s record-breaking 440,000 tons of potato exports to EU nations in 2023, prices on the European market remained high.