W52: Weekly Common & Sweet Potato Update
Potato
Germany
NRW Farmers Harvested 6.2% Fewer Potatoes in 2022 Despite Larger Acreage in Germany
The hot, dry weather during the summer months played a major role in the lower harvest outcome. North Rhine-Westphalian farmers harvested 1.80MMT of potatoes in 2022, a 6.2% YoY lower harvest than in 2021. This was the third highest result in the last eleven years after 2021's 1.92MMT and 2019's 1.89MMT.
Netherlands
Belgium in Particular Buys More Dutch Potatoes in 2022
More Dutch-consumption potatoes have so far been bought by Belgian buyers than in previous years. More than 150,000MT of the harvest in 2022 have already been exported to Belgium, including in November. Over 55,000MT more than in 2021, to be exact. The Dutch Potato Organization's recently released export statistics for Dutch consumption potatoes from the 2022 harvest demonstrate this. It appears that Dutch products satisfy a larger portion of the raw material requirements of Belgian processors.
Poland
The Potato Harvest in Poland Has Decreased by 13% Due to the Shrinking Areas
The Polish Central Statistical Office reported that the 2022 harvest of potatoes is estimated to be worth 6.2MMT, or roughly 13% less YoY than in 2021. The harvest, however, exceeded the 6.1MMT predicted in October. The decrease in sown areas to just over 200,000 hectares is the main cause of 2022's lesser harvest. However, yields improved slightly from the previous year to 30,700MT per hectare, up about 2%.
Plant growth and development were hampered by the springtime cold and lack of rainfall. The plantation's condition was improved by rain starting in the second half of May. Diverse weather conditions in the following months meant that the yield potential of potatoes would not be fully used. The state of the plantation varies due to the severe lack of rainfall, uneven distribution, various levels of agricultural technology, and soil conditions. Therefore, the yield of potato plants will vary domestically and even regionally. The potato cultivation area in 2022 is estimated at 200,000 ha. Additionally, 2022's yields of potatoes are predicted to be 307 dt/ha, which is about 2% more than last year. The potato harvest is forecast at approximately 6.2MMT, which is 13% less than 2021's harvest.
Turkey
A Vicious Circle Is Active in Potatoes and Onions in Turkey
Prices for potatoes and onions have risen by 288% and 733%, respectively, in 2021. The price of dried onions and potatoes set new price records in November, while rising production costs and supply issues suggest a new vicious cycle. According to TZOB data, potatoes saw a price increase of 26.3%, while onions saw a price increase of 48.8% in November.
Georgia
Potato Prices in Georgia Stabilise at Record High in W52.
In Georgia's wholesale markets, potato prices have been holding steady at around USD 0.67/kg for a few weeks. Both the lari and the US dollar have stable prices. In October and November 2022, Georgia imported 2,200MT of potatoes, the most in the previous five years. Interestingly, this time the situation has changed, and Russia and Belarus dominated in the last batches of imported potatoes. 80% of November's imports came from these countries.
Ukraine
One of the Vegetables in Western Ukraine Has Become Cheaper
Wholesale prices for potatoes fell throughout December, while those for the other vegetables in the borscht set stayed roughly the same. As a result, since the end of November, potato prices at Shuvar, the biggest wholesale market in western Ukraine, have dropped from USD 0.12-0.14/kg to USD 0.11-0.12/kg by the end of December. Other borscht vegetables of lower quality are now less readily available.
Egypt
18% Increase in Potato Seed Imports From Europe
A report from the Central Administration for Agricultural Quarantine, on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, confirmed the arrival of 141,138MT of European potato seed for the 2022/23 season, from October 31 to December 24, 2022, an increase of 18% from 119,937MT during the same period in 2021. Since the average price is USD 600/MT in shipments, around 65 goods totaling about 65 approved seed shipments are imported from the Netherlands, Belgium, Scotland, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, Germany, England, and Poland, with a value of about USD 85M.
Bulgaria
An Unexpected Breakthrough With the Export of Bulgarian Potatoes in 2022
Bulgaria continues the negative trend of high imports of fruits and vegetables and low exports, with the exception that the import of these items is declining as a result of their high pricing. Fresh vegetable exports decreased overall for the first nine months of this year by 35.5% to 28,200MT while fresh fruit exports rose by 87.1% to 60,700MT. However the export of potatoes unexpectedly increased by 30.8% in the first nine months of 2022.
Peru
Peru’s Potato Production Fell in Volume to 13.3% In October 2022
The National Institute of Statistics and Informatics revealed that Peru's total potato production for October this year was 212,878MT, a 13.3% YoY decrease from the same month in 2021. It states in its technical report Departmental Economic Panorama that the smaller harvested areas as a result of the poor water conditions that damaged the normal development of the tuber are the cause of the loss in potato production.
Russia
More Grain and Potatoes Were Harvested in the Penza Region Than in 2021
Agricultural producers of the Penza region have completed harvesting crops, and Penzastat shared preliminary data on the harvest. In the region, 3.16MMT of grain were received (in weight after completion), which is 40.4% more than in 2021. In addition, 301,500MT of potatoes were harvested, an increase of 1.6% YoY.
Russian Potatoes Amounted to 18.61MMT
The total potato harvest in 2022 was 18.62MMT as opposed to 17.96MMT in 2021. This figure includes the potato harvest in agricultural organisations, which was 4.3MMT as opposed to 4.063MMT in 2021. Vegetable harvesting decreased from 13.029MMT in 2021 to 12.964MMT in 2018. Vegetable harvest included in agricultural organisations totaled 3.842MMT, up from 3.828MMT in 2021.
Sweet Potato
South Korea
Consumer prices rose 5.1% in 2022 in South Korea, the largest increase in 24 years since the 1998 Asian financial crisis. However, there are few items that went down in price including sweet potato which dropped 21.7% YoY, followed by red pepper powder for 10.4%, egg for 4.0%, pear for 14.1%, and onions for 8.8%.
