The Dutch potato processors processed 278,700 tonnes of potatoes in August to 119,200 tonnes of pre-baked product and 24,800 tonnes of other products. In line from April that’s another slight plus. Potato exports are also on the rise.
This is shown by the processing figures of the Association for the Potato Processing Industry (Vavi) and the export figures of the NAO.
The processing seems to have found the way up permanently. In particular, the pre-baked product was made free fall by Covid-19 this spring. Production in February was still 152,300 tonnes, in March it dropped to 130,900 tonnes. April was the low point with 71,300 tons.
After that, production slowly picked up again. The quantities are not yet comparable to, for example, last year. At that time, total production from February to August was between 318,000 and 345,000 tonnes per month.
The quantity of other products has been more stable, hovering around 25,000 tonnes in February at 27,200 tonnes, 25,500 tonnes in March and also in April at 20,200 tonnes.
In the last 12 months – September 2019 to August 2020 – the potato processing industry processed 3.49 million tonnes of potatoes. That’s a minus of just 356,000 tonnes compared to the same period in 2018-19.
Exports
Exports of consumer and industrial potatoes are lagging slightly behind last year, according to NAO figures. Sales within Europe fell sharply (over 18 percent), with outliers from Malta, Chechnya and Poland. Outside Europe, more potatoes were sold, making the total volume of 99,000 tonnes almost equal to the 102,000 tonnes last year. Big buyers now are Senegal, Mauritania and Mali.
Seed sector
The seed sector also does good business abroad. With 760,321 tonnes, harvest 2019 already scores well above the export figures of the previous harvest (714,573 tonnes). Exports to non-European countries (America, Asia and Africa) are particularly striking. Algarije remains the frontrunner (77,681 tonnes), but also with Egypt (31,246) and Iraq (23,463) it is good business.
