China is the world’s largest potato producer, accounting for roughly a quarter of worldwide fresh potato production.
China’s MY2018/19 fresh potato production is forecast lower at 94 million metric tons, a 2 percent decrease from MY2017/18. This decrease is due to low potato prices which pushed Chinese farmers in the major production region to replace potato acreage with corn.
In terms of processed potatoes, frozen french fry (FFF) production will jump to 290,000 MT in MY2018/19, a 15 percent year-on-year increase resulting from added FFF processing capacity. Conversely, China’s FFF imports in MY2018/19 are forecast to decrease 10 percent to 115,000 MT because of additional tariffs placed on U.S. FFF exports to China, reduced European supply, and growing domestic FFF production.
