U.S. Potato Stocks in Seasonal Decline

WASHINGTON - Jun 14/07 - SNS -- Potato stocks in the United States continued their seasonal decline in May, sinking to 38.8 million cwt (100 pound units) in the 13 major producing states, according to the USDA.

Quantities on hand on June 1 were down 7% from last year and 25% below June 1, 2005, for comparable States. Ohio and Pennsylvania were dropped from the potato stocks program starting with the 2005 storage season. Potatoes in storage account for 10% of the 2006 fall storage States' production, down 1 percentage point from last year.

Disappearance of 343 million cwt from the start of harvest to June 1, is up 3% from last year. Shrink and loss, at 25.4 million cwt, is up 7% from the previous year.

Processors have used 180 million cwt of 2006 crop potatoes so far this season, up 8% from a year ago and 4% above 2 years ago. Idaho and Malheur County, Oregon total processing increased 8% from a year ago, Maine's total processing was 7% above the same date in 2006, and Washington and the rest of Oregon total processing was up 2% from last season. Dehydrating usage accounts for 38.6 million cwt of the total processing, up 13% from last year and less then 1% above the same date in 2005.

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