Export of potatoes from Poland
How was the potato export from Poland in the season 2023/2024 and the first three months of the season 2024/2025 shaping up? Let's look at the relevant data from GUS for the CN category 070190 - Potatoes, fresh or chilled other than seed. The numbers are very optimistic, especially in terms of quantity. But let's go through it step by step.
source: own elaboration based on GUS data
As seen in the first chart, the 2023/2024 season (calculated from July to June) stands out very well compared to the two previous export campaigns. The volume of 60.4 thousand tons is still relatively low considering Poland's potato production potential, but it's +42 percent compared to the 2022/2023 season and +99 percent compared to the 2021/2022 season. Trends in terms of value are similar.
The value of exported potatoes from Poland in the 2023/2024 season was 118.4 million PLN. This is a 61 percent year-on-year increase. Compared to the 2021/2022 season, there is an increase of 182 percent! This is the result of very good prices that Polish potatoes achieved in exports throughout most of the 2023/2024 season, as explained below.
source: own elaboration based on GUS data
The beginning of the 2024/2025 season in the export of Polish potatoes looks even more impressive. There was a volume increase of 197 percent year-on-year, 173 percent increase compared to the 2022/2023 season, and a staggering 254 percent increase compared to the 2021/2022 campaign. In terms of value, there were respective increases of 118 percent year-on-year, 206 percent compared to two years ago, and a whopping +407 percent compared to three years ago. The effect of the liberalization of PIORiN's approach to potato research for export is clearly visible, which greatly expedited and facilitated the sale of Polish potatoes abroad.
source: own elaboration based on GUS data
The good results in the export of our domestic potatoes in the past season and especially at the beginning of the current season are clearly visible in the chart illustrating monthly volumes of this export. In the 2023/2024 season, only the first two months were weaker. However, nine months brought volumes higher than in previous years.
The beginning of the 2024/2025 season brought a sharp increase in potato exports from Poland. The volume was already higher at the start of the new season, and then it continued to grow dynamically. The volume in September alone, 8.5 thousand tons, exceeded the exports in the entire first quarters of the previous three seasons.
source: own elaboration based on GUS data
However, when it comes to the prices achieved by exported Polish potatoes, the current situation is not as optimistic. The 2023/2024 season was very good in this regard. The average monthly prices remained higher than in the previous campaigns in eight out of twelve months. Only from October to January, it was worse than in the 2022/2023 season.
The beginning of the current season brought prices lower than the previous year. Additionally, there was a price drop in September compared to August by 18 percent, causing the September average price to fall below not only that of the previous year but also that of two years ago. Most likely, the upcoming GUS data for October will deepen this unfavorable trend, but an improvement can be expected in the November data. Potatoes in the Polish market have been getting more expensive since the second half of October.