During their last meeting in Belgium at the beginning of March the NEPG (North-Western European Potato Growers) discussed a possible reduction in the 2008 potato area in the 5 main producing countries (Germany, France, Belgium, GB and The Netherlands). Overall members believed the decrease in plantings could be a few percent for the 2008 crop. Under normal growing conditions this could lead again to a possible oversupply of the market with prices which may not cover grower’s production costs.
The largest area reduction is expected in Germany with 15 - 20% for the early potatoes and between 3 - 5% for the main crop. A large reduction in earlies is also expected in Belgium, but the area of ware potatoes could remain the same as in 2007. However, most of the potatoes have not started to be planted and growers may still consider other alternatives in their cultivation planning.
As there is an oversupply situation in all countries at present and export trade cannot boost demand sufficiently, it is expected that the season on the continent will last longer than usual. This is likely to have an effect of lighter demand from the processing industry during the start of the 2008/9 season. Except for GB, all NEPG countries reported higher stocks in February, compared to last year. During the last meeting also the contract prices for next year are compared between the various countries. Although they are on average increased with 12,5% it is not considered as being enough to cover the higher production costs as for example the energy.
