Cautious recovery for European fries exports

The export of frozen fries from the EU-5 has bottomed out. France in particular is making an important contribution to the total. This country continues to export significantly more product compared with the previous season. The Netherlands remains stable, while Belgium is still losing some ground. The most recent export figures from the harmonized trade system are for the month of April. These show that the EU-4 and Poland together exported just over 510,000 tons of fries. That is 1% more than a year ago. Over the past twelve months, exports are now 1.5% above those of the previous year. Exports this season are almost in line with those of the 2023/24 season. Belgium continues to lose groundWith 230,400 tons of product, Belgium remains by far the largest exporter, but this country lost more than 5% in export volume in April, compared with the same month last year. Exports from the Netherlands remained virtually stable at 159,400 tons. Germany rose by almost 6% and Poland by 4%. France is the exception to the rule. In April, 30% more fries were exported than in April 2025. This amounted to 73,400 tons of product. Over the past twelve months, French exports are now 14% higher. That France is doing well comes as no surprise. Processing also kept up a good pace last season. France is competitively priced, has many new production lines and ample potato supplies. The country is also the only one to have already published figures for May. These are considerably lower than in April, with exports down 9% year on year. Notably, exports from France to non-EU countries in April increased in particular, by more than 5%. It is precisely on this front that European exporters have lost ground to countries such as China and India. European exports fell by 3%, mainly because trade between the major European exporters declined. The Netherlands has the most expensive friesExport prices for fries continue to decline, with a considerable drop of 11% per ton of product in April. The French price even fell by a fifth and Belgium’s price dropped by 11%. For the Netherlands, the decline was just over 9%. On average, a ton of fries cost €1,138 in April, with Belgium at €1,055 being by far the cheapest. At €1,246 per ton on average, the Netherlands is even at the very top, which stands out. This probably has to do with the fact that Dutch manufacturers focus more on premium potato products and less on bulk production. Production costs here are also at the highest level. The United Kingdom imported 4% more product in April. This concerns almost 65,000 tons of fries, which accounts for almost 13% of the total volume. France and the Netherlands follow in second and third place, with a significant share being re-exported. Volume to France fell by 15.5%. So French producers appear to have benefited from this. Exports to Belgium almost doubled. Saudi Arabia continues to import stable volumes of fries, despite the war involving Iran and the wider regional tensions. Brazil and Colombia imported significantly more fries in April. Imports were up 63% and 25%, respectively. The US imported slightly fewer fries in April, but remains the third largest customer. Exports in May also higherFor the entire EU-27, figures for May are already available. These show that 5% more fries were exported worldwide by EU countries. South American countries imported more than 25% more product and African countries imported almost 50% more. Exports to the Middle East did fall by 10% in May, and 12% less product also went to Asia.