Fault Vierverlaten over
How many beets are left in the ground?
Statistics from Suiker Unie show that just under 20% of all sugar beet was still in the ground at the beginning of last week. Relatively many beets still have to be harvested, especially in North and South Holland and in the Noordoostpolder.
The numbers are in stark contrast to last year. Then in week 49, 5% of the acreage still had to be harvested. Apart from more favorable weather conditions, the acreage was considerably smaller; 70.000 hectares, compared to more than 85.000 hectares this year. The 19% still to be harvested therefore refers to 16.216 hectares, compared to 3.500 hectares in 2016. The highest figure in the beet static of Sugar Union.
16
thousand
How much more to harvest?
The weekly figures published by Suiker Unie relate to the situation at the start of that week. How much has been harvested during the week in question is usually announced on Wednesday. Looking at the previous weeks, a small 50% will probably remain for week 10.
In the twelfth campaign week, an average sugar percentage of 17,1% is noted. That's the same as the week before. For 5 weeks in a row, the percentage has fluctuated around 17%. Regional percentages fluctuate between 17,8% and 16,4%.
The tare percentage jumps from less than 12% to 13,5%. The wet harvesting conditions are clearly noticeable in the figures. The clay areas set high tare; almost 18% in Southern Flevoland, 17,5% on the Groningen clay and 16,7% on the Frisian clay.
Factory up and running early
Earlier than expected, the sugar factory in Vierverlaten (Groningen) has resumed beet processing. On Thursday night, December 7, sugar beet could be processed again. Renewing the conveyor belt went faster than previously thought. Initially, 3 days of downtime was taken into account.
The standstill means a loss of capacity of 40.000 tons of beets. Sugar production continued during the shutdown. The factory was able to continue running on thick juice from the tanks. These tanks will be refilled over the course of the campaign.
Niels van der Boom
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