Canadian storages held 78.16 million cwt of potatoes on January 1. That is 283,000 cwt less than they held a year earlier, a 0.4% reduction. Stocks are down from last year in all growing areas except Manitoba and Alberta. Ontario had 4.923 million cwt of potatoes in storage on January 1, which is 477,000 cwt less than the 2022 inventory, an 8.8% reduction. That includes 3.67 million cwt of chip potatoes, 190,000 cwt less than year-earlier holdings. Quebec had 8.65 million cwt of potatoes in storage on January 1. That fell 900,000 cwt short of 2022 holdings, a 9.4% decline.
Processing stocks (chip and frozen) dropped by 23,000 cwt, to 3.658 million cwt. Chip potato inventories are down from last year’s record in both Ontario and Quebec. However, January 1 chip potato stock are the second-largest or record. December usage in both provinces nearly matched the 2021 pace. Large chip potato inventories in Ontario and Quebec should be adequate to carry the Canadian chip industry through the storage season.
U.S. packers shipped 1.628 million cwt of table potatoes during the week ending January 14. That is down from 1.711 million cwt shipped a year earlier. Michigan’s reported shipments totaled 47,300 cwt of potatoes during the week ending January 14. That is down from 77,500 cwt during the same week in 2022. Last week’s Michigan shipments were 92.3% russets, 3.0% red potatoes, 2.8% yellow potatoes, and 1.9% round white potatoes.
USDA reports that Michigan packers are selling size A russets in 10-pound bags for $16-$17 per 50-pound bale, unchanged from last week. Wisconsin packers are selling size A russet potatoes in 10-pound bags for mostly $14-$15 per 50-pound bale, unchanged from a week ago. They are selling russet 40-70 count cartons for mostly $26-$32 per 50-pound box, also unchanged. The weighted average shipping point price for Idaho Russet Norkotahs is $36.97 per cwt. That is unchanged from a week ago.
Wisconsin packers are selling 10/5# bales of size A yellow potatoes for mostly $19.50-$23 per bale, unchanged from a week ago. They are selling 50-pound cartons of size A yellow potatoes for mostly $19-$23 per 50-pound box, also unchanged. Red River Valley packers are selling size A yellow potatoes in 2,000-pound tote bags for mostly $25-$26 per cwt, unchanged from last week. They are selling yellow creamers in 50-pound sacks for mostly $30-$32.
– Report by North American Potato Market News