Over the past few weeks free buy potato prices in north-western Europe have fallen dramatically, the North-Western European Potato Growers (NEPG) said in a Sept. 29 news release. The buying price is now lower than production costs.
“Even if there is a logical link between offer and demand – the current very low free buy potato demand is due to much higher contracted volumes and more offer of non storable potatoes – there also must be a logic between quotations and real exchanged volumes,” NEPG stated in the release.
The reduced demand for free buy potatoes indicate that it’s a very narrow potato market, the release noted. NEPG is urging growers to be cautious when considering these price quotes. They shouldn’t panic as the longterm market fundamentals point to robust demand so growers should consider storing their crop and waiting to sell until later.
“The needs of the European processing industry for future months should be of an additional two million tons compared to the one of two years ago and future price perspectives are good,” NEPG said.
The NEPG noted though that current low free buy potato prices aren’t an incentive for growers looking at their plans for planting next year.
“Each stakeholder in the European potato industry should take into account all of this information if their goal is to maintain the momentum of their supply for the next campaign,” NEPG stated.
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