Quarterly China Report of Potato Starch

In May 2016, the 13th Five-year Plan for Potato Industry (2016-2020) was issued, which is the first document about the potato industry after China announced to promote potato as staple food in Jan. 2015. Some goals about planting area and yield of potato as well as the output of potato products were updated and revised in the document. It can be seen that China holds a more rational attitude towards promoting potato as staple food. In Q2 2016, China's potato starch market continues showing an upward trend. The rising price boosts the profitability of manufacturers. However, as the new-harvested potato will enter the market in later period, it is predicted that the potato starch price will reduce. Affected by the low market prices of competing products, import volume of potato starch reported a YoY fall in Jan.-April 2016. What's more, the Environmental Protection Tax Law is expected to be issued within 2016. At that time, potato starch producers may be confronted with higher production costs, and will be forced to transform and upgrade.