Fresh Potatoes: Ware & Processing (Egypt, France, Netherlands, Germany, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh)

Table and processing potatoes by variety, size band and storage history, in 25 kg bags by the ventilated or reefer container

Potatoes are traded by end use - table (ware), processing and seed - and the customs code separates seed potatoes (HS 0701.10) from other fresh or chilled potatoes (HS 0701.90), the ware and processing trade on this page. A table potato is bought on variety, tuber shape, skin and flesh colour, uniformity and freedom from greening, sprouts, soil and damage; a processing potato for fries or crisps is also bought on its storage history, because tubers held too cold build up reducing sugars that darken in the fryer. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations under HS 0701.90 total USD 5.50 billion. France leads by value at USD 1.21 billion and about 3.05 million MT, mostly to Belgium (939,000 MT), Spain (816,000 MT), Italy (329,000 MT) and Portugal (235,000 MT); Germany declared 2.57 million MT, over 1 million MT of it to the Netherlands; the Netherlands declared 1.59 million MT, 1.02 million MT of it to Belgium; and Egypt declared USD 362 million and 584,000 MT, led by Greece (89,000 MT), Italy (55,000 MT) and Spain (37,000 MT). Pakistan declared 736,000 MT, including 143,000 MT to Sri Lanka, 134,000 MT to the UAE and 40,000 MT to Malaysia; India 506,000 MT, led by Nepal (224,000 MT), Bangladesh (84,000 MT) and Oman (54,000 MT); and buyers declared 9,200 MT of potatoes from Bangladesh in 2024, mostly into Malaysia, and 34,000 MT in 2025. Egypt's season runs from January to early July, its growers plant processing varieties such as Santana and Diamond for fry demand in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Europe, and Egypt imports 110,000-150,000 MT of seed potatoes each autumn and winter; China and Pakistan supplied about 85% of Malaysia's potato imports in 2024. Those are declared export values, not offers.

Under Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072, ware potatoes may enter the EU from non-EU countries only from a short list, Egypt among them, and only with an official statement that they come from areas where brown rot (Ralstonia solanacearum) is known not to occur; Egypt-specific brown rot measures date back to Commission Decision 2004/4/EC. Seed potatoes are a separate certified trade under Council Directive 2002/56/EC, with non-EU seed admitted into the EU only from Switzerland, and are not offered here. Sprout control changed in 2020: the EU did not renew approval of chlorpropham (CIPC) under Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/989, after EFSA identified dietary risks from chlorpropham and its metabolite 3-chloroaniline, and the last grace period ended on 8 October 2020. Residues persist in old stores - about one in seven British stores returned a detectable residue in monitoring reported in August 2026 - so buyers ask for CIPC results, and ethylene is one alternative. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers ware and processing potatoes from packers and exporters in Egypt, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh against the phytosanitary certificate, a certificate of origin, residue results against the destination's limits and an inspection of size, defects, sprouting and pulp temperature at loading where the buyer wants it. Tubers are cured for 10-14 days at 12-16°C and 85-95% relative humidity, then travel at about 7.5°C for table and 10°C for processing use, within a 4-12°C range at 85-95% humidity: below about 3°C they turn sweet, above 6-7°C they begin to sprout, and they freeze at -2 to -3°C. They ship in actively ventilated or open-sided containers, or in reefers at about 7.5°C with 30 m³/h of fresh air, packed in 25 kg jute or leno mesh bags or 10 kg ventilated cartons to APEDA's export specification. Cargo moves on FOB, CFR and CIF terms, priced per MT for variety, size band and pack. Send the variety, end use, size band, pack, quantity, discharge port and shipment month, and the enquiry is screened and worked against it.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.