Beet campaign launched: smaller acreage, higher yield
Today, Cosun Beet Company's sugar beet campaign started again at all our locations: Dinteloord, Vierverlaten and the German location in Anklam. Despite a challenging market situation and a smaller acreage, we expect a higher sugar yield per hectare than last year. This is important in order to continue to supply our customers and to guarantee continuity in the chain.
Maikel van Bakel, CEO of Cosun Beet Company since 1 September: "A successful beet campaign is of great importance to our cooperative, both for our growers and for our colleagues in the factories. Their craftsmanship enables us to achieve a good sugar yield and continue to supply our customers reliably. Cosun Beet Company plays an important role in Cosun's Unlock 30 strategy: we extract maximum value from the beet, make our chain more sustainable and accelerate the transition to plant-based and circular solutions. A good beet campaign contributes to realising those ambitions."
Beet campaign expectations
Due to early sowing this spring, the growth point date – the moment when the beet fields close – was about two weeks earlier than last year. The crop is looking good. In line with earlier expectations, the sugar yield is estimated at 15 tonnes of sugar, which is above the five-year average of 13.5 tonnes per hectare.
In our Dutch factories, we expect to process a total of approximately 7.55 million tonnes of beet this year, spread over a 135-day campaign. The average sugar percentage is 16.85%, with a yield of 90.5% and a tare of 11%.
Market developments and acreage
This season's favourable growing conditions offer prospects, but broader market dynamics require vigilance. Due to the expected above-average sugar yield, production this year will be higher than last year, which means that pressure on the sugar market will continue. At the same time, there are also developments in Europe: in addition to the reduction in acreage, disease pressure (including yellowing disease in France and the beet disease SBR in Germany) is also playing a role. These factors are putting pressure on the total European availability of sugar beet and, taken together, are leading to a more nuanced picture of market developments.
In relation to low sugar prices and a deteriorating market situation, Cosun reduced its allocation from 110% to 100% last year. As a result, we see that this year's acreage has fallen by more than 5% compared to last year, to approximately 83,036 hectares. These developments emphasise the importance of a robust strategy and future-proof production capacity.
Strategic course towards 2030
Cosun Beet Company's ambition is to become the most efficient and sustainable beet sugar producer in Europe. We will achieve this by continuing to innovate in cultivation, continuously improving our processes and making maximum use of all parts of the sugar beet. This approach fits in seamlessly with the mission of parent company Cosun: unlocking the full potential of plants and co-products. Cosun is responding to the growing global demand for plant-based foods, (animal) feed ingredients, circular solutions and plant-based alternatives. With its Unlock 30 strategy, Cosun is fully committed to a sustainable and profitable future. In doing so, we are contributing to a future-proof sector and a healthy revenue model for our members, for current and future generations.