The carrot market has been developing with difficulty since March. For harvest from the land, a price of 5 cents is paid. Only a few cents more is paid for good storage quality. " The supply within Europe is quite big and the demand from export markets is too calm. In other years the cooling houses would sometime be buyers and they would bring atmosphere into the market, but that's not happening either," says carrot trader Kees Heegsma from Lemmer.
"The Russian measures are being named as the cause of the low market price, but I don't think that's completely fair. Russia would normally be on the market in the summer, but they weren't the biggest buyer. I hope winter will come to Russia soon and cause them to search for a Dutch solution. Our Russian seller can't do much at the moment. You can't do anything through official routes," continues Kees.
Mouse damage
"The gross carrot harvest is big, but the size of the net harvest is still to be seen. Mice have run wild at home and abroad and due to the mild winter the population increased greatly. Those animals have eaten their way into a lot of damage in the plots," says Kees. "There are still enough carrots in the ground at home and abroad that aren't suitable for storage."
"A change in the market situation would have to come from a change in the weather. The temperature in Eastern Europe is calmly dropping below zero. An early winter could change the situation. Luckily there are some Eastern European customers at the moment who are ordering quality carrots. Another positive point is that Africa is reasonably on the market and that's a destination we've hardly seen over the last few years. This offers a bit of perspective," concludes the open ground vegetable trader.
For more information:
Kees Heegsma
Heegsma BV
Straatweg 74
8531 PZ Lemmer
T +31(0)514 56 92 24
F +31(0)514 56 93 97
M 06 53 24 48 28
info@heegsmabv.nl
www.heegsmabv.nl