Prices of young potatoes – has the downward trend prevailed again?
During the past week, in the second decade of the current month, the downward trend in wholesale prices of young potatoes in Poland was clearly halted, and there were even upward corrections.
However, this did not last long and discounts on the prices of these vegetables in the national wholesale market returned. Interestingly, these discounts were not as dynamic, although there is a growing concern among potato producers about the future of the current season. In numbers, the prices of young potatoes (yellow varieties) offered in large wholesale markets dropped to levels of 1.20-1.67 PLN/kg most frequently. Yesterday, transaction prices were reported at 1.15 PLN/kg, but today the lower limit is higher. At least statistically speaking.
As seen in the above chart, current prices (with an arithmetic average of 1.44 PLN/kg), despite a 22 percent decrease since June 18, still remain above the average of the previous five years. The difference is not significant, but it exists. Moreover, this multi-year average around June 27 is clearly "pulled up" by last year's quotation.
The described recent drop in potato prices and current price levels that producers can expect are causing concern on the supply side of the market. Concern about the further development of the situation. Farmers also see issues with potato yields that will negatively impact harvests, knowing that most likely there will be another season with no excessive production. But they also know very well that wholesale prices do not only depend on domestic yields. For the potato market in Poland, it will be crucial to observe the behavior of potato prices in the next two weeks.
As seen in our chart, this is usually the period when a downward trend slows down, and the average price curve becomes flatter. It remains to be seen if, in the current season, the first decade of July will bring about such changes and at what level they will occur. Maintaining the current prices above the multi-year average will be a positive signal for producers.