Nordzucker has announced that it has completed sugar production from sugar beet and sugar cane in most of its factories, as part of its 2021/22 production campaign.
The campaign was completed in Finland and Lithuania before the end of the year, in Poland and Slovakia in the first ten days of January, and in Germany between 18 and 27 January.
Production in Denmark and Sweden is expected to close at the end of January and early February, respectively.
On average for all factories, the campaign will last 122 days.
Around 17 million tonnes of sugar beet, including 184,000 tonnes of organically grown beet, were processed in this period.
Above-Average Output
Sufficient and well-distributed rainfall during the summer in almost all European growing regions led to above-average beet and sugar yields.
Germany saw one of the highest sugar yields ever, with an average of almost 80 tonnes of beet per hectare (73 tonnes in the 5-year average), and sugar content of about 18%.
In addition to the good yields, higher sugar prices will have a positive impact on the beet prices of the contracts with a variable price model.
“The variable sugar beet contracts with our growers will achieve the best prices since the end of the sugar market regime and noticeably higher prices than in the fixed price model,” said Dr Lars Gorissen, Nordzucker CEO.
“The competitiveness and attractive role of sugar beet in agricultural crop rotation is thus confirmed”.
In some factories, the thick juice now in storage will also be processed into granulated sugar and bioethanol for fuels and chemical products in the spring.
The company faced supply bottlenecks and cost increases for auxiliary materials and energy.
Efficient An Optimal Use Of Factories
Axel Aumüller, COO of Nordzucker, added, "The campaign duration documents the efficiency and optimal utilisation of the factories. These challenges were solved through the good interaction of all company divisions from agriculture, purchasing, production and logistics to sales and marketing. At all locations in Europe and Australia, we can be satisfied with the course and result."
In Australia, well-distributed rainfall led to above-average yields in the region of the three sugar mills of Nordzucker’s majority holding Mackay Sugar Ltd.
Rainfall also favoured the growth of the sugar cane and saw its second-best harvest in the past ten years.
The three sugar mills in the continent started the crushing season at the beginning of June and ended it at the end of December 2021, after an exceptionally long season spanning 199 days.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Dayeeta Das. For more Supply Chain news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
