Spain: Good prospects for potatoes

Good and bad years alternate. Potato prices this year will be good, as long as nothing occurs outside the market leaving growers without the necessary profitability margins after a disastrous 2011.

This is why 2012 is a good one, as good years consistently alternate with catastrophic ones due to the market's situation and to differing production levels in each part of the country.

Just taking a look at price movements from the beginning of each of the past four campaigns makes it clear that this situation repeats itself. In 2009, the Jaerla variety set an initial price of 70 Euro per tonne, while a year later it went up to 190 Euro per tonne. Last year their initial price was of 85 Euro, while this year it has reached 170 Euro per tonne.

The keys to this campaign will cover several aspects, the first one being a decline in arable land in the province of Castilla y León, accompanied by lower output in Andalusia and Extremadura, due to which the market is not exceptionally busy at the beginning of the campaign, although it has yet to kick-start properly.

It is also important not to forget that production under contract has increased, so independent production is lower and the market will not saturate as much, although we will have to wait until the market is flooded with French potatoes. The output will be of around 35,000 to 40,000 kilogrammes per hectare.

For now, prices are being profitable for growers; a sharp contrast with the previous campaign, when a potato tonne was worth just 50 to 60 Euro.

Source: Tribunasalamanca.com