Potato Weekly - 30 October 2020
Friday, 30 October 2020
At a glance
- Free-buy traded volumes across all sectors are described as being quite average, with many orders fulfilled on contract.
- Tier 3 lockdowns are pressuring demand for potatoes and diminishing buyer confidence as procurement source on a hand-to-mouth basis.
- Widespread rains across the British Isles this week has momentarily stopped lifting for many growers, with others describing it as very stop-start. With the weather forecast to pick up next week, many are hoping to finish off lifting in the coming couple of weeks.
Market Commentary
Packing
- A lot of packing trade this week has been fulfilled on contract.
- Maris Piper is still demanding a premium, especially where samples are bold with top skin finish.
England
Scotland
Bags
- The free-buy bag market has been described as quiet this week. Lack of mobility during half-term week has not helped demand.
East
West
South
Processing
- Processing trade this week has been described as fairly quiet, with a lot of orders fulfilled on contract.
Exports
- Export trade this week continues, with reports of shipments to both the Canary Islands and Ireland.
- However, due to the sample size, we are unable to publish any prices this week.
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4 December 2020
Demand across the board is reported as relatively lacklustre, despite England coming out of lockdown and going into to a tiered system.
27 November 2020
Little movement in the market over the last week, due to current lockdown measures slowing trade across much of the UK.
20 November 2020
Free-buy markets experienced a downturn in trade this week, with most overall demand met by contracted material.
13 November 2020
The English lockdown seems to have had a limited effect on the free-buy market. Maris Piper is at a premium to other whites in retail.
6 November 2020
Cautious buyers and lack lustre demand have resulted in little free-buy price movement from last week.
30 October 2020
Free buy traded volumes across all sectors are described as being quite average, with many orders fulfilled on contract.
23 October 2020
Demand has been slow this week due to uncertainty around tighter COVID-19 restrictions and the potential increased closure of pubs and restaurants.
16 October 2020
The onset of harsher Covid-19 restrictions and concerns over a second lockdown is reportedly depressing demand this week for both the bags and processing sectors.
9 October 2020
Heavy rainfall across most of the country last weekend halted lifting for most growers at the start of the week.
2 October 2020
Maris Piper is the variety in demand this week for the packing trade. Nationwide rainfall has provided relief to the driest area's where bruising was an issue at the start of lifting.
25 September 2020
New restrictions introduced within UK that came into force on Thursday have sparked anxiety that there could be a strangulation of demand within some sectors of the industry.
18 September 2020
• Contracted material has accounted for the vast majority of trade taking place over the last week. Free-buy markets remain lacklustre overall.
11 September 2020
This week has seen free-buy trade fall once again. Movement of supplies on contract continues to hold the majority in potato markets. Repeat orders, in some cases with lower volumes, form the common comments this week rather than fresh demand.
4 September 2020
The week has been described as relatively quiet across the board, with many supplies across all sector utilised mainly on contract.
28 August 2020
Bags prices have remained somewhat stable week-on-week although free-buy markets have remained slow with contracted material continuing to be utilised.
21 August 2020
Free-buy markets continue to see pressure on prices. Increasingly available supply for markets has met a widespread muted level of demand.
14 August 2020
Free-buy markets are still somewhat pressured this week.
7 August 2020
Once again trade across the week has been described as relatively subdued.
31 July 2020
Trade across all sectors this week remains very lacklustre, with pricing described as a “race to the bottom” by many within the trade.
24 July 2020
New-crop has held the lion’s share of crop movement in potato markets this week. Some old-crop movement continues, mostly for packing and processing jobs in smaller volumes. This old-crop movement should likely reduce to very negligible levels as we move into August, facing more new-crop supplies.