A surge in spending on New Zealand fries in November was the main factor behind a new monthly record import total for Australia of Au$ 15.057 million. Spending on Dutch fries also rose sharply while the recovery for the US was more muted. The volume of imports rose to 13 240 tonnes in the latest month but this was still smaller than the exceptional totals recorded in October-December 2014, for which the Netherlands was responsible.
Average unit value of the November imports fell back to Au$ 1 137/tonne from Au$ 1 230/tonne in October. While the Dutch fries were the cheapest of the major suppliers, at Au$ 903/tonne, the UK fries cost only Au$ 843/tonne compared with Au$ 2 943/tonne in November 2015 and as a result there was an exponential increase in spending on the UK product.
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Reproduced with permission from World Potato Markets issue 300