The potato market remains depressed. There is only a very limited demand for free potatoes. Belgapom again does not list for Bintjes and the quotation for French fries potatoes drops to 2 euros.
Due to a lack of transactions, Belgapom was again not quoted this week for Bintjes with an industrial destination. In a lackluster market, Bintje recorded 3.00 euros for other destinations. For Fontane and Challenger, the quotation fell by 1.00 euros to 2.00 euros. This in a lackluster market. The trade is at the level of alternative markets such as feed, fermentation or the flake industry. Belgapom’s disappointing quotations also had consequences for the futures market. It responded with a sharp price drop of more than 8 percent. In the morning session, the delivery month of April 2021 settled between 5.20 and 5.50 euros.
Harvest progress
In certain isolated areas in NW Europe, 20 to 25 percent of the potato area still has to be grubbed. In October, for example, on the Belgian coast, on average, much more rain (120 mm) fell than inland. As a result, it was difficult to harvest in West Belgium. Permanent dry weather in the coming weeks offers the opportunity to harvest this part of the crop as well. The disadvantage of potatoes that have been harvested later is that damage is regularly found and / or the underwater weight is insufficient. Reason for processors to reject these batches.
Lockdown
The markets remain flat and cannot be inspired. The demand for processing free potatoes is not there, or is only very limited. Due to the lockdown in many countries, processing factories are reducing their production of fresh chips.
