News on Potato Stats, Trade, Prices from Europe

In Great Britain, Maris Piper is still by a wide margin the most grown potato variety. But potato growers have planted an increased area of emerging varieties to serve the fresh packing market

Government representatives from Scotland and Brazil met in July to simplify the import classification requirements for seed potatoes. The game-changing meeting was organised and funded by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).

In Scotland, a group of major potato businesses and public sector organisations have sponsored a £242,000 (USD 313,000) research project aimed at reducing the impact of potato disease blackleg on the Scottish seed potato industry.

The total consumption potato area in North-Western Europe, has been estimated at 578.821 ha, which is 4.6% more than last year and 8.3% more than the 5 years average, according to the NEPG.

Seed potato growers for the United Kingdom who have been confident that crucial trade with Egypt and other non-EU markets would not be disrupted by Brexit may be in for a shock.

AHDB Potatoes Market Intelligence Analysts estimate the total area planted with potatoes in Great Britain this season is 121,000 hectares. This is up by four per cent on the previous year.

Last week on 15 & 16 June, the Europatat Congress 2017 took place. Feedback on the congress and side events has been extremely positive.

HZPC Holland bv heeft de
definitieve uitbetalingsprijs voor zijn Nederlandse pootaardappel-pool over Oogst 2016
vastgesteld op € 34,40 per 100 kilo.

Great Britain grower-held potato stock levels at the end of March 2017 were at 1Mt, around the same volume as the end-March 2016 and 300Kt less than the end-March 2015 according to an AHDB estimate.

The organizers of the Europatat 2017 Congress in Antwerp from 15 to 17 June announce the addition of a number of high level speakers to the programme

The NEPG (North-Western European Potato Growers) estimates the potato acreage will grow by 3.6% compared to last season.

Potato manufacturers in the Netherlands are approaching the 4 million tons of processed potatoes mark annually.

Potato stock levels in Great Britain at the end of January 2017 were at a similar level as at the same time in 2016, despite a four-year low yield, according an AHDB survey of grower stocks.

Under the provocative slogan 'Making the European Potato Trade great again! (it’s gonna be huge, it’s gonna be great, it’s true!)', the Europatat Congress 2017 will focus on two major current issues for the potato sector: plant health and trade.

Jan van Luchene of Bruwier Potatoes, a Belgian company specialized in acquiring and delivering the potatoes you need offers his view of the current potato market in Belgium and Europe.

On the January 1, 2017 the RUCIP European Committee secretariat will be effectively transferred from Paris to Brussels. From the same date a new set of Rules and Practices of the Inter-European Trade in Potatoes (RUCIP) will also start to apply.

The official NEPG (North-Western European Potato Growers) harvest estimation has been adjusted downward to 24.551.000 tons, which is 3 % lower than last year and 3,6 % than the 5 years average.

AHDB Potatoes' first provisional estimate of total production in Great Britain for the 2016 crop year is 5.22 million tonnes, down 5% from 2015. Average yields for GB are estimated at just under 45 tonnes/ha, down 8% on last year.