European beet areas face significant cuts for 2026

After the November contract on the UK Liffe futures market ended, the sugar price briefly rose. It has since started to decline again, reaching its lowest price level in four years. A ton of refined white sugar now costs €362,84 per ton, down 30% from a year ago. Sugar producers expect the European sugar market to remain unfavorable next year, forcing a significant reduction in sugar beet acreage.

Collective discount
To encourage growers to produce less sugar beets, a discount percentage is often used, although many European factories have not yet communicated a definitive percentage. Arno Huijsmans, director of agricultural affairs at Royal Cosun, also reflected on this choice during the webinar on December 8th. "As a cooperative, we have a different management mechanism and opted for a collective discount. As early as August, we saw falling sugar prices and high production in the EU. The allocation was then reduced based on data." According to Huijsmans, Südzucker's choice for a bonus system in Germany is due to the fact that the grower agreements for 2026 were already in place there, and the processor is relying on the growers' voluntariness.

Incidentally, Südzucker Germany isn't the only beet processor that has already reached agreements with its growers. The company has already done so in Poland, as has competitor Pfeifer & Langen. Therefore, they haven't (yet) implemented a discount percentage. A one-year, non-relevant cultivation freeze is also used by some. At Südzucker, however, this is only possible if you supply a maximum of 200 tons of beets. Aside from Südzucker in France, processors there haven't yet announced any discounts.

Don't shrink for France
According to Franck Sander, president of the French beet growers' organization CGB, it is primarily up to other European countries to act, not so much France. He said this in an interview with the French agricultural press. In 2017 and 2018, after the abolition of the sugar quota, the beet acreage in France and Germany peaked, only to continue declining until 2024. This was not only due to disappointing beet prices, but also primarily to higher grain prices and major problems with sugar beet yields. Between 2017 and 2026, the sugar beet acreage in France decreased by 18%, representing nearly 89.000 hectares. In Germany, the decline was only 6,4% (26.500 hectares), and in Poland, the acreage even increased by 12%, to 27.950 hectares. According to Sander, this is a direct consequence of the coupled support, which Poland still receives and which is a thorn in the side of Western European member states. The beet acreage in the Netherlands, Belgium, and England has been relatively stable over the past ten years, with a slight downward trend.

This year, 1,49 million hectares of sugar beets will be grown in the EU, a 9% decrease compared to last year. Nevertheless, the good yields this season are resulting in increased sugar production. The ISO sugar industry's latest estimate estimates a global sugar production surplus of 1,6 million tons. Last season, there was a deficit of 2,9 million tons.

Record import
Besides its substantial domestic production, the EU also imports a significant amount of sugar. As of October 1st, a record 622.000 tons had already been imported from third countries for the 2024/25 season, 17% of which came from the UK, 16% from Ukraine, and 14% from Mauritius. Raw sugar can be imported duty-free by European refineries, a thorn in the side of processing organizations. This sugar generally does not meet European requirements, and WVZ, among others, is therefore calling on the European Commission to close this loophole to the European market. The special customs procedure "inward processing" has already resulted in the import of 687.000 tons of raw sugar and 155.000 tons of white sugar in the 2024/25 season, 93% of which came from Brazil. This is considerably more than proposed in the Mercosur Agreement. Several Member States are therefore calling for this arrangement to be halted immediately.

Protection against import
Imported sugar remains a hot topic. The European Commission will discuss the Mercosur trade agreement, which includes sugar, between December 15 and 18. The European Trade and Industry Committee (INTA) approved a draft law on December 8 to protect the European agricultural sector from unfair trade practices from Mercosur. 27 votes were in favor, 8 against, and 7 blank votes. If imports from Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay) disrupt the European agricultural sector, the Commission may temporarily revoke the relaxed trade conditions. It is precisely the lack of protection in the trade agreement that many farmers' organizations are concerned about. This is important not only for the sugar market, but also for the meat industry, for example.

Sander is resolute about the impending Mercosur agreement: "Protection or not, we oppose the treaty that will cost Europe 50.000 hectares of beet land through the import of 190.000 tons of sugar and 8,2 million hectoliters of bioethanol."

Falling prices
The bitter reality for beet growers is significantly lower payout prices. In France, the expectation is €30 to €35 per ton, depending on the processor, compared to €39,50 last season. Cristal Union has already announced a preliminary price of €32,53 per ton. This year, two more sugar producers in the country have closed: Ouvré Fils and Lesaffre, which has been acquired by Cristal Union. In England, British Sugar has reduced next year's contract by €3,44 to €34,37, a 9% decrease. In Poland, contract prices next year range from €28 to €31,50 per ton, excluding premiums.

Cosun continues to pay an above-average price across Europe. In August, the base price was raised to €37,50 per tonne. It's up to the cooperative's results to sweeten this price. As with other cooperative processors, there are concerns about this, as their financial results are under pressure. At Cosun, the fact that Aviko will likely contribute much less this year due to the pressure on the potato and French fry market is a major factor. Across Europe wrestle Arable farmers are struggling with the fact that they have few profitable alternatives. Even with lower prices, beet cultivation remains popular. This is also evident from the ordering of beet seed from Cosun, which is possible starting today (December 9). The portal opened an hour later than usual (10:00 AM), and barely two hours later, most of the seed was already sold out. It should be noted that the availability of certain varieties is reduced.

Mopping with the tap open
By drastically reducing the acreage now, European processors hope to restore a healthy market in 2026 and 2027. Whether this actually happens depends partly on the growing season. It will be like mopping the floor with the tap running if the European Commission fails to address the rampant import of sugar from third countries, which are also struggling with production surpluses and, moreover, have significantly lower costs for their products. Therefore, not only growers and processors must take action, but also politicians.