Storage chip potatoes from the 2022 crop have been cleaned up. North Carolina and Virginia are harvesting. The North Carolina harvest should wrap up in about a week. Temperatures there are getting hot. Growers in Ohio plan to start digging on Friday. The chip potato harvest is expected to get underway in Indiana and Illinois next week. SW Michigan chip potatoes should be ready to harvest by next Friday. Dealers indicate that business is good.
The U.S. exported 6.49 million cwt of potatoes and potato products (raw product equivalent) during May. That exceeded year-earlier shipments by 285,000 cwt, or 4.6%. Reductions in frozen product, fresh potato, and potato chip exports were offset by a large increase in dehydrated product exports. Fresh potato exports fell 0.6% short of May 2022 movement. Frozen product exports dropped by 13.3%, while potato chip sales fell by 6.4%. In contrast, dehydrated product exports climbed 54.8% above year-earlier exports. The value of May potato imports exceeded the value of exports by $46.99 million. That is the second-largest May potato trade deficit on record.
Canada reports that it still had 7.18 million cwt of potatoes from the 2022 crop left in storage on July 1. That is down from 11.03 million cwt a year earlier. The data are incomplete since New Brunswick’s stocks were not reported. Most of the remaining supplies are intended for frozen processing. However, Ontario reported that it had 115,000 cwt of chip potatoes left in storage on July 1. That is down from 450,000 cwt a year ago. At the June usage rate those potatoes would have been gone by July 5. Quebec reported that it had 70,000 cwt of chip potatoes in storage on July 1.
U.S. packers shipped 1.288 million cwt of table potatoes during the holiday-shortened week ending July 8, 2023. That is up from 1.145 million cwt shipped a year earlier. Michigan’s reported shipments totaled 27,900 cwt during the week ending July 8, 2023. That is up from 22,600 cwt during the same week in 2022. Last week’s Michigan shipments were 100% Russets.
Wisconsin packers are selling size A russet potatoes in 10# bags for mostly $15-$16 per 50# bale, unchanged from a week ago. They are selling Russet 40-70 count cartons for mostly $30-$34 per 50# box, also unchanged. The weighted average shipping point price for Idaho Russet Norkotahs is $39.09 per cwt. That is unchanged from a week ago.
Virginia packers are selling 50# sacks of Size A Round White potatoes for $21 per sack, down from $21-$23 per sack last week. They are selling 50# round white chefs for $26 per bag, unchanged from a week ago.
– Report by North American Potato Market News