News Cosun
Cosun beet price up, but yield down
Cosun has set the beet price for the 2020 harvest at €39,50 per net tonne of standard quality quota beet. This is €0,50 higher than the €39 per net tonne of the 2019 harvest, Cosun announced on Wednesday afternoon. However, the price for average quality beets is lower than in 2019.
The beet price was formally set today by the cooperative's members' council. Quota beet delivered with standard quality has a sugar content of 17% and extractability of 91. The beet price for 2020 is made up of a basic price of €32,50 and a members' bonus of €7. In 2019, the members' allowance was €6,50.
This means that the various business units of Cosun (Cosun Beet Company, Aviko, SVZ, Sensus) jointly achieved a slightly better result than in 2019. The price for surplus beet at standard quality has been set at €24,50 per tonne. In 2019 this was €25 per tonne.
Beet price average quality
The beet price of the average quality supplied over the past year was €35,58 per tonne compared to €36,05 in 2019, Cosun has established. According to the cooperative, this slight decrease is the result of a higher members' bonus of € 7,00 and a less favorable content and extractability settlement.
Due to a dry spring and summer followed by abundant precipitation in the late summer, the average sugar content in 2020 was only 16,1%, compared to 16,3% in 2019. The extractability was also only 89,3, compared to 89,6 the year before. . The price of an average quality surplus beet is €22,07 per tonne. In 2018 this was still €23,11. The average financial yield per hectare for the grower over the 2020 campaign is exactly €2.901. This is a slightly worse result than the €2.930 per hectare for 2019.
Impact of the corona crisis
The corona crisis has cast a shadow on Cosun's financial performance. French fries producer Aviko, in particular, has had a particularly challenging year, in which it was necessary to improvise in order to be able to reverse the lost demand from the catering industry and food service. Cosun Beet Company (formerly Suiker Unie) and SVZ also felt the effects of the crisis firsthand. Departing CEO Albert Markusse indicated last February, just before the crisis erupted in the Netherlands in all its intensity, that he hoped for a beet price that was equivalent to the 2019 campaign year. Despite the crisis, the standard price is ultimately slightly higher than the year before.
The cooperative company will present the annual figures tomorrow, with chairman Dirk de Lugt and Albert Markusse looking ahead to the coming campaign year.
Eric the Thrush
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