News on Potato Stats, Trade, Prices

Michael Agbogo, co-founder of Vicampro, disclosed that Nigerians consume about 120 tonnes of French fries daily, even as the whole of West Africa region lacks real food processors. According to him, 'Nigeria imports about $200 million worth of French fries annually'...

As of September 5, Armenian farmers had harvested 210,000 metric tons of potato - 40,000 tons more than the year before, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. The land used for potato cultivation increased this year by 771 hectares to a total of 34,077 hectares.

Western Australia's Parliament has cleared the way for full deregulation of the state's potato industry, passing legislation to abolish the controversial Potato Marketing Corporation (PMC).

AHDB Potatoes has produced provisional estimates of planted areas by variety for Great Britain for 2016.

In the last fiscal year (FY'16), Bangladesh's potato production hit an all-time-high of 9.47 million tonnes, the latest data showed. However cold storage facilities showed little progress compared to the higher output.

Scottsdale farmers Jerrod and Susan Nichols are preparing to plant their 2016 spring crops, but say processing potatoes for McCain would not be in the mix unless prices lifted.

Starting from the 2016 – 2017 season, the Belgapom quotation will be made up of three parts, each supplemented by their own market sentiment: Bintje, Challenger and Fontane.

Consumers in Croatia say that local potatoes should not be more expensive than German or French potatoes.

Algerian potato exporters are still having trouble at the border crossing Tebessa between Algeria and Tunisia. Tunisian customs do not allow trucks carrying tons of potatoes to enter Tunisia although all the legal procedures are completed.

A significant rise in potato imports into Australia is forecast for 2016, sparking concern about the profitability and competitiveness of the Australian potato industry over the coming months.

Ahiyan Impex Ltd. is a Bangladeshi exporter and importer of agricultural products which ships potatoes to various international destinations, including Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Dubai or Bahrain, and with interest to expand in Russia, despite some initial phytosanitary issues.

Statistics Canada reported that potato farmers in Canada planted 342,602 acres (138 647 hectares) of potatoes in 2016. This is down 1.8% from 2015, continuing the overall downward trend of the past 12 years.

The government of India today imposed minimum export price (MEP) of USD 360 per tonne on potato to increase domestic availability and cool prices.

In Russia, potatoes have hit record high prices due to supplies being imported and a lack of vegetable storage.

In Switzerland, the weather wasn’t on the side of potato producers. After last year’s bad conditions, this year the harvest has literally washed away. There are already farmers who have written off their crops and ploughed under the potato crop.

A federal judge in Mexico’s Northern State of Sinaola issued a decree that bans the import of fresh potatoes from the United States.

UK Supermarket chain Tesco has announced it will issue contracts worth £12 million over three years to help support British Agriculture, and become the first retailer in the UK to introduce new long term contracts for potato growers and packers.

Aiming to boost potato exports, the Indian government is considering identifying ‘pest-free zones’ for the staple in production clusters of the growing states like Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.