Bad weather has left Britain with its worst potato harvest in 36 years, and harvests have also been off in most of the rest of Europe, with only Poland among major producing nations expecting a bigger crop, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
European Union exports of frozen potato products "are expected to be somewhat lower" in 2012-13, creating opportunities for rival shipping nations, thanks to the weaker harvests, USDA staff said in a briefing. Good news for American exports, which, as Tim OConnor, president of the United States Potato Board noted, had already increased 10% over the past year.
In Belgium, the output of ware, or food, potatoes -- as opposed to crop used for seed, feed or processing into starch -- is seen falling some 17% to 3.45 million tons, thanks to of lower sowings and yields. In the Netherlands, the ware crop is expected to drop by more than 13% to 3.34 million tons, the lowest since at least 2007, again due to smaller plantings and a "cold and rainy growing season through mid-August," the USDA said. And in France, crop is seen falling 12% to five million tons, despite stable acreage, "due to poor weather conditions throughout the growing season, especially a very wet early summer which boosted mildew disease.
Output in the EU has been hurt not just by the knock-on effect of lower prices last year, which prompted many growers to plant alternative crops for this season, but also by, in many countries, poor weather, which in the UK included the wettest summer in a century. Industry data Oct. 3 showed the UK harvest reaching 32% completion, or 39,000 hectares, as of the end of last week, a little over half the figure a year ago, and some three weeks behind normal.
However, weather was less of a problem further east, with 10% drop to 6.8 million tons in Germany's ware potato harvest seen down to lower sowings, with yields forecast reaching "average" levels. And neighbouring Poland is seen as enjoying a record yield, of 24 tons per hectare, enabling production to rise some 5% despite a drop in plantings. "This record high yield is the result of excellent weather conditions during the growing season," the USDA report said.
Poland will be able to raise exports to Russia in 2012-13, the USDA observed. But the rising tide of shipments of processed potato products, such as frozen french fries -- which soared 22% to 3.77 million tons between 2008-09 and 2011-12 driven by growing demand for fast food in Latin America, the Middle East and South East Asia -- looks set to go into reverse. "This can create additional opportunities for US products in export markets
like Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Brazil," the briefing said.
