The French Potato Interprofessional, CNIPT, has tried to answer this question in the face of the uncertainty posed by the impact that the war in Ukraine could have on Egypt’s potato export industry, a country that sells an average of 660,000 tons of potato every year, 240,000 of which are sold to Russia, its largest customer. In particular, considering that the Egyptian potato export season is currently at its peak.
The difficulties in delivering the potatoes to Russia could translate into a potential increase in Egypt’s (and to a lesser extent Israel’s) early potato offerings on the European market. Germany has already started to import Egyptian potatoes and the European market could increase its imports of Egyptian potatoes, which would directly threaten France’s market share, as 98% of French potatoes are exported to EU territory.
“Indirectly, this vigorous competition from these Mediterranean early potato offers could increase the pressure on the prices of negotiated offers,” the CNIPT stated. The French sector achieves more than a third of its exports in the period from March to May.
However, there is a possibility that the war in Ukraine could cut Egypt’s access to Russian wheat, a very important source of food for its population, which could force the Egyptian government to restrict part of its potato exports for domestic consumption.
Source: agrodigital.com
A source: https://www.freshplaza.com
