North America grapples with full potato sheds, just like Europe

Potato growers in Canada still have a lot of potatoes in storage, according to the most recent inventory survey. This is not so much due to potato processing. That is actually performing better. The factories are simply having trouble finding room for the large harvest. As a result, the cold storage is also filling up. On the reference date of 1 May, 1.99 million tonnes of potatoes were still in Canadian potato storage. That is 217,270 tonnes more than were stored a year earlier. An increase of 12.2%. Never before has the potato stock in the country been this large. Most potatoes in Alberta Most of the extra Canadian potatoes are stored in Alberta, but there are also more potatoes in storage in Manitoba, Quebec and British Columbia. In eastern Canada, the stores are actually emptier. Not surprising, because that is where the harvest was smaller last autumn. It is mainly more fries potatoes that growers have kept. This concerns 14.3% more product. More processed Potato processors in Canada performed well in April. 4% more product was processed. In total, 558,825 tonnes of potatoes were processed during this month, which is 6% more than the five-year average. In Alberta, even 53% more product was processed. That has everything to do with new production sites. McCain has significantly increased its production capacity, but competitors such as Cavendish Farms are also expanding. US fries stock biggest ever On 30 April, potato processors in the United States had 5.83 million tonnes of fries and other potato products in storage. That is 9% more than on the same date a year earlier, which amounts to 489,000 tonnes. It is also almost 9% more than the five-year average. That made the stock the biggest ever in the US. The decline in stock was greater than average in April. Normally, factories build up the fries stock to have enough product available when switching to the new harvest. If stocks continue to increase at this pace, the Americans will have a particularly ample supply. In addition, the new harvest is likely to arrive earlier. Planting was early and the crops developed well. Insiders therefore expect more early potatoes than the factories are counting on. Also in Europe Potato stocks also remain large in Europe.According to a survey by the French potato organisation UNPT, 2.64 million tonnes of potatoes were still in storage in France on 1 April, including 1.9 million tonnes of fries potatoes. That is also a record. It is 750,000 tonnes more than were stored last year. French potato growers are also not giving up their potatoes for €0, if the factories even want to buy them.