Although the majority of potatoes were harvested early this year, there are still some growers lifting potatoes around the country and conditions have deteriorated with recent rainfall. Markets are stabilised with good demand reported for packing quality. The peeling market continues to play catch up as old season stock was still being used until very recently.
The situation across Europe is slow to improve. There is still crop which was planned for “ex field” loading which has not been lifted. Some of the crop which was put into temporary stores is now starting to show signs of sprouting. There are estimates which suggest the total harvest within the EU is 56.3 mt’s. This is 5.3mt’s or 10.4% higher than last year. The strongest growth in yield is within the 4 NPEG countries together with Poland.
