News on Potato Trade from Asia

According to the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan imported 404100 tonnes of potatoes worth USD 65.9 million from 16 countries in January-October 2022.

In Kazakhstan potato production increased by 11.9% in 2022. According to the Minister of Agriculture of the country, Kazakhstan can provide potatoes not only for the domestic market but also for the neighboring countries.

Relevant data show that from January to August 2022, China exported about 220,300 tons of fresh or refrigerated potatoes (except for seeds, the same below), an increase of about 2.57% compared with the same period last year.

Following the rise in prices that has been at the centre of disputes and protests all over Cyprus in recent weeks, potato farmers said on Thursday they will also take action if the government does not intervene to support them.

Potato prices continue to rise. At the Garak Market in Seoul on the 4th, a box of 20 kg of potatoes was sold at KRW 75,367 (about USD 58.48). Compared to the average value (48,105 won) from 2019 to 2021, it rose by 57%.

Potato production in the current crop year is estimated to be 53.60 mt, down from 56.17 mt last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture's first estimate of horticulture production.

Despite a lack of an efficient seed supply system, new varieties of seeds, and technical capacity of farmers as well as inadequate resources for seed systems, Pakistan has harvested a record potato crop

Harsh weather conditions during last summer and suboptimal harvest conditions leads to uncertain potato quality and an earlier-than-usual demand for imported potatoes.

According to EastFruit analysts, Uzbekistan may become one of the five largest potato importers in the world by the end of 2021. Following the results of 11 months, Uzbekistan has already set a new record of potato imports.

In a recent report USDA-FAS forecasts a fresh potato production in China of 94 million tons for marketing year 2021/22. This is a 5% decrease from the estimated 99 million tons in the previous year, a result of decreased acreage.

With retail potato prices rising sharply over April and May, the government of India has decided to permit the import of Potatoes from Bhutan without any license up to June 30, 2022.

Hossein Asghari announced that 950,000 tons of potato has been exported in the past year, while the figure was 518,000 tons in its preceding year.

The Georgian team of EastFruit analysts draws attention to the unusual situation in the Georgian potato market this season.

Potatoes produced by contract growers of the Bangladesh Agricultural Corporation (BADC) are now being exported to Malaysia.

In February EastFruit experts identified the main reasons for the sharp rise in potatos prices in Uzbekistan over the past few years, having analyzed trends in the production, import and consumption of potatoes for the period from 2000 to 2020.

Last week Japan eliminated its remaining 2.1% tariff on US frozen fries (HS 2004.10) as a result of the tariff concessions secured under the US-Japan Trade Agreement.

Predicting a bumper harvest of potato this season, the West Bengal Cabinet on Monday decided to allow cold storage owners to purchase at least 10 lakh (1 Million) metric tons of tuber from farmers at a fixed price, so that they do not have to suffer losses, a senior official said.

India on Saturday threw open its domestic market for certain agricultural commodities including potatoes from Bhutan.