The sugar beet campaign in the Netherlands is almost half way through. Thanks to the favorable weather conditions, Cosun Beet Company sees the sugar percentage increase slightly further. Nevertheless, there is a shortage on the sugar market worldwide, resulting in a high sugar price.
Today, Thursday November 4, Cosun is on day 53 of the 2021 sugar beet campaign. "We have now received 45% of the beets that we will process this year," says Arno Huijsmans, Chief Agricultural Officer. According to him, the campaign is going better than in previous years. "Thanks to the investments we have made in recent years, we can process more beets per day. And unlike in other years, there are hardly any technical disruptions."
The harvest is also going well, according to Huijsmans. "We had quite a lot of rain last week, but in most areas growers and contractors have anticipated this well. As a result, there is more than sufficient stock. And now that the prospects are more positive, good harvesting can take place everywhere again."
Sugar percentage rises to 17,1%
Due to the recent rainfall, the beets have come with a little more soil, as they have noticed at Cosun. The tare percentage increases slightly and is now at 10%. According to Huijsmans, the current weather conditions have a positive effect on the quality of the beet. "The evenings and nights are colder. This in combination with sun during the day is favorable. As a result, we see the sugar percentage increasing during the campaign and it is now at 17,1%."
Given the growing season, which was characterized by a wet and gloomy summer, the quality level of the sugar beets is satisfactory. "There are of course differences between the regions, but also within the regions and even within plots," says Heijmans. "It has to do with the variable growing conditions."
In line with previous forecast
De yield forecast that Cosun previously expressed remains unchanged. “Based on what we see so far and the 55% that still has to come in, we think we will end up with 13,6 tons of sugar per hectare.” This means that the yield is slightly below the five-year average. This corresponds with the provisional harvest estimate that CBS announced last week. This year a total gross proceeds of 6,5 million tons sugar beets.
At European level it becomes a thing rosier picture of the beet harvest. The latest Mars bulletin shows that the European Commission assumes a yield that is slightly above the five-year average. Not only on average in Europe, but also in the Netherlands. France, the largest sugar beet producer in Europe, now has the yield forecast adjusted upwards, but is still slightly below the average of the past five years.
High sugar price
This image fits in with the scarcity that is currently expected on the global sugar market. Major sugar exporters such as Brazil and Thailand are struggling with disappointing harvests. Meanwhile, raw material prices are currently sky high, which makes it extra interesting to produce ethanol from sugar cane instead of sugar. The International Sugar Organization (ISO) still assumes that consumption will grow faster than production this season. Global sugar supplies are expected to shrink by 2021 million tonnes to 2022 million tonnes by the end of the 3/95 season.
Current developments ensure that the sugar price continues to fluctuate at a high level. In October, the highest price for white sugar in almost five years was reached on the Liffe in London. Due to adjusted harvest forecasts and wait-and-see buyers, the price fell slightly in the past period, but there has been no significant decline. At the beginning of this week, on November 1, the European sugar price was already €441,57 and the sugar market does not yet seem to have any prospects.