US Potato Stocks Down 9 Percent From December 2007;Usage for processing down, especially for dehy.

The 13 major [US] potato States held 242 million cwt of potatoes in storage December 1, 2008, down 9 percent from a year ago and 7 percent below December 1, 2006.

Potatoes in storage accounted for 66 percent of the 2008 fall storage States' production, slightly below December 1, 2007. Klamath Basin stocks totaled 4.00 million cwt on December 1, 2008, down 5 percent from a year ago. Klamath Basin stocks include potatoes stored in California and Klamath County, Oregon.

Potato disappearance, at 123 million cwt, was 6 percent below December 1, 2007 and down 5 percent from December 1, 2006. Season-to-date shrink and loss, at 13.0 million cwt, was down 8 percent from the same date in 2007 and down 2 percent from 2006.

Processors in the 9 major States have used 71.8 million cwt of potatoes this season, down 2 percent from the same period last year and down 3 percent from 2 years ago.

Dehydrating usage accounted for 10.7 million cwt of the total processing, down 16 percent from last year and 26 percent below the same period in 2006.