Record amount harvested
Difficult British beet campaign completed
British Sugar, the beet processor in the United Kingdom (UK), is the last country in Europe to complete the sugar beet campaign for the 2017 harvest. That was not without a struggle; the 4 factories were plagued by technical problems and a huge pile of snow also threw a spanner in the works.
Wage and transport companies that went bankrupt, repeated technical failures and on top of everything a huge amount of snow. British Sugar struggled during their 2017/2018 campaign. The enormous harvest is a plaster on the wound and the average yield per hectare has never been so high; in 10 years it increased by about 25%.
90
ton
The British beet acreage last year amounted to 107.000 hectares, good for about 9 million tons of beets. Only in 2014 were more beets harvested, which was due to the larger acreage. The average hectare yield is now 90 tons per hectare, compared to just 80 tons in 2014. The better varieties and the perfect growing season have ensured that, according to the Eastern Daily Press.
The 'Russian Bear'
British Sugar has invested almost €5 million (£290 million) in their 250 factories over the past 4 years. Despite this, there were major technical problems at 2 locations. The biggest problem, however, was the 'Russian bear', or 'beast from the east' as the English call him. At the end of February, the transport of the beets to the factory came to a standstill. Miraculously, after the snow had melted, the last beets could still be harvested.
According to Colm McKay, agricultural director at British Sugar, a number of investments are planned in the coming months. They must ensure that the 100-year-old factories run smoothly in the coming campaign.
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British sugar market
The sugar producer is counting on a production of 1,4 million tons of sugar for the past campaign. Under quota, UK production was capped at 1,056 million tonnes, providing 60% of local consumption. The remaining 40% was filled with the import of cane and European beet sugar. Tate & Lyle has refineries in the country to process raw cane sugar. This industry is under heavy pressure due to the low global sugar prices.
Despite the local need, BS is exporting sugar this season to Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Kenya and Singapore, among others. McKay sees another big advantage: "In the past we were obliged to store c-sugar until the next campaign. That involved a lot of costs."
Prize Bonus
For the 2018 harvest, the processor is offering a contract of £22,50 per tonne; converted €25,80. If the European sugar price exceeds €475 per tonne on average, BS will pay a bonus of 10%. Those who sign a 3-year contract will receive a 25% bonus. The average EU sugar price in January amounted to €374 per tonne, which means that a bonus is a long way off.
Niels van der Boom
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