Further Delays for the Belgium and The Netherlands Fresh Potato Crop
Due to rainy weather that delayed plantings, the fresh potato crop that will supply the 2024–2025 marketing year is predicted to be delayed in several areas of northwest Europe, with Belgium and the Netherlands suffering the most.
“In a NEPG statement released on the 1st of July, a rough estimate puts hectarage up by 4-6% in 2024, and crop progress varies from newly planted fields at the end of June which is unusually late to full flowering soon-to-be-harvested crops,” according to a recent Mintec report.
At EUR625/MT, the Expana benchmark price (EBP) for Dutch processing potatoes has reached an all-time high and is up 7.76% year over year. Market sources have reported that as the industry waits for the arrival of the fresh potato harvest, it is getting harder and harder to locate free buying processing materials. The highly wet and delayed 2023 harvest, which affected the quality and supply of potatoes across Europe, is directly responsible for the low availability.
“In June, the EU Commission readjusted its 2024 harvest yield figure to 35.8 tonnes per hectare, 3% lower than the May figure, although still 1% higher than the 5-year average. This comes after large yield readjustments in Belgium and the Netherlands, which are 10% and 6% lower respectively than the May forecast. The MARS report mentioned severely delayed plantings due to waterlogged soils and phytophthora, a disease in potatoes that causes late blight, as factors that could ultimately affect the final crop yields,” the experts added.
While sales of frozen chips and other processed goods are stabilizing or falling, the demand for potatoes in the NEPG zone, particularly in France, is increasing. The NEPG reports that competition is coming from China, India, Argentina, Turkey, and North America.
“The risk associated with growing potatoes is increasingly becoming more prevalent, largely due to the increasingly volatile weather,” the Mintec representatives concluded.
