Germany’s second-largest sugar refinery Nordzucker on Thursday, May 23, was the last major European producer to announce losses due to falling prices in the industry.
Nordzucker posted a loss of 36 million. For comparison: in the previous year, after paying taxes, the company recorded a profit of 118 million euros, operating losses amounted to 58.1 million euros.
Last year, Nordzucker’s turnover fell 18 percent to € 1.35 billion, while sugar production fell from 2.7 million tons to 2.4 million tons. The company also expects operating losses in the current financial year.
“Nordzucker expects negative results in fiscal 2019/20 due to continued low prices,” the company said. German Suedzucker, Europe’s largest sugar refinery, also reported heavy losses in the sugar sector in May.
The European Union liberalized its sugar market in September 2017, putting an end to the guaranteed minimum price system and protected production quotas. This gave manufacturers more freedom to expand and export, but the worst-case scenario came when European manufacturers faced falling world prices.
“The market picture for the first full year after the end of the quota regime was marked by significant overproduction within the EU and the world market. Sugar prices are expected to remain very low, ”Nordzucker CEO Lars Gorissen said at a press conference.
