In September, potato markets dropped sharply, with the GB weekly average price falling by £16.78/t to £184.77/t and the free-market average down by £14.06/t to £252.44/t.
Price fluctuations prevent food producers from planning and investing for the future
In October David Walker, chairman of the Fresh Potato Suppliers’ Association (FPSA), reported that extreme weather conditions during planting, production and harvesting period, combined with a three-year period of low market pricing, to threaten the fresh potato supply this season. Growers are lifting potatoes with three times as much soil as usual so they are having to double grade. It can cost about £200 a tonne, but they are lucky, if they are in a contract, to get £150 a tonne. Growers need to get £250 a tonne on a regular basis.
But by the end of November, the weekly average price was £218.68/t and the free-buy average was £303.93/t.
One speculator is rethinking
The Financial Times reports that Barclays’ new chief executive Antony Jenkins is considering moving away from agricultural commodities (crop) trading.
At a session of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards Barclays’ CE Rich Ricci, said that “trading soft agricultural products doesn’t sit socially well with the large constituent of our customers.”
Some politicians and NGOs have pointed to market speculation’s role in creating sharp price rises for intermediaries in the wake of droughts, rapidly rising demand from China and the impact of climate change.
Food concerns 
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