At 789,000 cwt, Michigan’s April chip potato shipments fell 249,000 cwt short of the 2022 record movement, a 24.0% decline. April shipments also dropped 10.4% below the five-year average movement. The state’s chipstock shipments, season-to-date through April 30, fell 754,000 cwt short of year-earlier movement, a 7.8% decline.
Total April U.S. chip potato shipments fell 14.7% short of 2022 movement. At 4.83 million cwt, that is 835,000 cwt less than the industry shipped a year earlier. April 2022 movement was the largest on record.
- Reduced movement from Michigan (-249,000 cwt), Wisconsin (-220,000 cwt), and the Southwest region (-193,000 cwt) were the largest factors in the downturn.
- Shipments from the Midcentral region (-175,000 cwt) and the West Coast region (-175,000 cwt) dropped substantially.
- Maine (-33,000 cwt) and the Midwest region (-26,000 cwt) also posted reduced movement during April.
- In contrast, April chip potato movement exceeded the 2022 pace in Florida (+100,000 cwt), the Red River Valley (+90,000 cwt), New York (+32,000 cwt), and the Rocky Mountain region (+19,000 cwt).
U.S. chip potato shipments, season-to-date through April 30, totaled 50.2 million cwt. That exceeded the year-earlier movement by 68,000 cwt, or 0.1%.
Fresh
U.S. packers shipped 1.537 million cwt of table potatoes during the week ending April 29. That is down from 1.604 million cwt shipped a year earlier. Michigan’s reported shipments totaled 83,200 cwt during the week ending April 29. That is up from 51,800 cwt during the same week in 2022. Last week’s Michigan shipments were 80.5% russets, 12.2% round white potatoes, 6.8% yellow potatoes, and 0.5% red potatoes.
The USDA reports that Michigan packers are selling size A russets in 10-pound bags for mostly $16-$17 per 50-pound bale, unchanged from a week ago. They are selling size A russets in 5-pound bags for mostly $17-$18 per 50-pound bale, also unchanged. Wisconsin packers are selling size A russet potatoes in 10-pound bags for mostly $15-$16 per 50-pound bale, unchanged from a week ago. They are selling Russet 40-70 count cartons for mostly $29-$33.50 per 50-pound box, up from $29-$33 per 50-pound box last week. The weighted average shipping point price for Idaho Russet Norkotahs is $39.68 per cwt. That is unchanged from a week ago.
Red River Valley packers are selling size A yellow potatoes in 2,000-pound tote bags for mostly $28 per cwt, unchanged from a week ago. They are selling yellow creamers in 50-pound sacks for mostly $30, also unchanged. Florida packers are selling 50-pound cartons of size A yellow new-crop potatoes for $25.95-$27.25 per box, unchanged from last week. They are selling yellow creamers in 50-pound cartons for $45.25-$50.95 per box, also unchanged.
Florida packers are selling 50-pound cartons of size A round white potatoes for mostly $27.95-$29.95 per box, unchanged from last week. They are selling round white creamers in 50-pound cartons for $45.95-$50.95 per box, also unchanged.
– Report by North American Potato Market News