Polish potato prices under pressure – despite record exports, the market is burdened by oversupply

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 11. 26. 11:15

🎧 Hallgasd a cikket: Nyelv: Sebesség: 1.05×

Poland’s potato exports set a record in the first eight months of 2025, but producer prices remained under pressure, according to a summary by FruitVeB. Despite significant exports, domestic surplus production and increased imports caused a sharp drop in prices, especially for table potatoes – writes Agrarszektor.

Strong export performance, primarily to Ukraine

Between January and August 2025, Poland sold 107.5 thousand tons of potatoes abroad, delivering the product to 31 countries. The largest market remains Ukraine, which purchased more than half (57.1 thousand tons) of the total export, followed by Romania (11.9 thousand tons) and Moldova (9.9 thousand tons). Polish potatoes are also increasingly present on the German, Italian, Slovak and Spanish markets.

Export revenue reached PLN 151.99 million (HUF 14.76 billion), which is a significant increase compared to PLN 110.04 million the previous year. Two-thirds of the revenues were provided by Ukraine, Romania and Moldova.

Oversupply makes the situation difficult for producers

Despite favorable international sales, the market is also burdened by 171.7 thousand tons of imports, mainly from Germany. Meanwhile, the total production in 2025 increased to 6.8 million tons, while Polish domestic consumption remained below 6 million tons. The surplus – caused by the expansion of the sown area and good yields – drastically depressed prices.

The greatest pressure was felt in the table potato market: while the prices of items contracted in advance for the processing industry fell less, there was strong competition for fresh market products.

Stabilizing prices and cautious optimism for the end of the year

By November, wholesale prices began to rise moderately. Medium and good quality potatoes are sold for PLN 0.40–0.53/kg (39–52 HUF/kg), while fresh market goods are increasingly sold for around PLN 0.60/kg (58 HUF/kg). Forced sales of lower-quality lots are being reduced, which could further alleviate the oversupply.

Although intervention buying is not possible due to EU regulatory reasons, analysts say that natural market processes may bring a price correction in the rest of the year.

Outlook
Polish potato producers can be confident: according to experience, even in an unfavorable year, prices improve market prices as the season approaches its end. The question is how long the easing of production and import pressure will last – especially with stagnant domestic consumption.