CU LTIVATION AND TECHNOLOGY European drought could have a ripple-effect around the world The sustained summer drought in Northern Europe is having a major impact on potato supplies and prices in across the continent and beyond. Cedric Porter of World Potato Markets reports. T he 2018 potato season in Europe will go down as one of the hottest and driest in recent years. June and July were particularly dry with June experiencing just a quarter of its normal rainfall and July not much more than a half. There were many days where temperatures rose above 30 degrees centigrade and potato crops shut down growth in response. The inevitable result has been reduced yields with some growers reporting output of just 20 tonnes a hectare. The potato area in the five main potato growing countries of the EU is up just 0.8%, according to estimates from World Potato Markets, which means that production is down significantly on last year. Ferdi Buffen, the respected boss of German company Weuthen, expects there to be a reduction in output of between six and seven million tonnes in the five countries, which will leave many buyers short of the potatoes they need. Prices sky-rocket Such a looming shortage is already resulting in very high prices. Processing potato prices across Northern Europe have opened the season at €250/tonne and stayed at those levels despite more supplies coming onto the market. Futures prices for April have hovered around €300/tonne for the last two months, suggesting a very high-priced season in store, although buyer resistance to very high values could play a part in limiting price gains. This season could hardly be more different than the last one, when record production in a number of countries led to over-supplies and prices falling below €10/tonne in some cases. This season’s higher potato crop prices are expected to lead to higher product prices, although those increases will not be at the same rate of increase as those for raw material. A guide to the increase 18 Potato World 2018 • number 3 Pagina 17

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