Not enough Potato Starch in 2011: KMC

When the potato starch campaign started late in the summer 2010 the carryover stocks of European potato starch were almost empty. At the same time most of Europe suffered under adverse growth conditions during the 2010 growing season. This resulted in very limited potato yields and thus low expectations to the supply of potato starch.

At KMC this year’s campaign production finished already shortly before Christmas and we had to realize that the alternating wet and cold weather in Northern Europe during the last months of 2010 had an added negative influence on our production of potato starch in 2010.

For all potato starch producers 2011 will be a year in which it will prove impossible to meet the total demand from the customers. Also KMC’s customers will experience the consequences of the extreme weather, but everything possible will be done to minimize the problems that this situation will inflict on our customers.

Sales and Marketing Director Bjarne Larsen stresses that next year will indeed be very difficult, but that KMC will do everything possible to help the customers through this situation.

He adds that it, of course, is much too early to predict the 2011/12 harvest, but that we know for certain that the European starch stocks will be empty when the new campaign production starts up in the summer of 2011. And even with a good harvest it will take several months for supply and demand to balance.