21 August 2024
Nordzucker is well prepared for the 2024/2025 campaign – inauguration of modern production enhancement
“Overall, we are expecting above-average yields across the Group for this year’s campaign. The trial harvests last week are a clear indication of this,” says Lars Gorissen, Chief Executive Officer at Nordzucker.
The sugar beet initially grew slowly in the spring due to cold, wet weather and longer sowing times in some regions, but has developed well in recent weeks. This was due to the persistent mix of rainfall, sunshine and summer temperatures.
The campaign will start at the Opalenica factory in Poland on 27 August. A few days later, the Nordzucker Group’s other factories in Germany, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Sweden and Slovakia will join the campaign. As in previous years, the factories in Schladen (Germany), Nykøbing (Denmark) and Kėdainiai (Lithuania) start by processing organic beet.
Sites prepared for the campaign – state-of-the-art liquid sugar plant inaugurated in Sweden
Nordzucker has used the inter-campaign period intensively to get its factories and plants ready for the new campaign. Through investments, maintenance and improvement measures, the company is not only optimising its production processes, but also consistently reducing its energy consumption. One highlight this year is the commissioning of the new, state-of-the-art production facilities at the factory in Örtofta, Sweden. Alexander Godow, Chief Operating Officer at Nordzucker, emphasises: “We have brought together the best of the two Swedish factories in one location to make production in Örtofta more efficient and future-proof. Among other things, we have modernised the sugar house and expanded the site to include state-of-the-art liquid sugar production and a new Service Center. This increases efficiency, offers logistical advantages, protects resources and contributes to decarbonisation. And it will bring us closer to our sustainability goals step by step.”
Nordzucker has set itself ambitious goals: By 2030, the company wants to reduce its CO₂ emissions by 50 per cent compared to the base year 2018. The goal is to produce CO₂-neutral by 2050. To achieve this, around 300 million Euro will be invested over the next five years as part of the GoGreen sustainability programme.
Nordzucker factories are reducing their CO₂ footprint through various measures
Nordzucker is commissioning a new, modern sugar silo at the Nordstemmen site, which has a storage capacity of 80,000 tonnes of sugar. This will save transport routes and storage costs in future, as some of the sugar will no longer have to be stored temporarily in external silos. At the Uelzen factory, an additional extraction tower will go into operation with this year’s campaign, which will allow more sugar to be extracted from the beet and at the same time save around 10,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year thanks to an optimised process. The company is also significantly reducing energy consumption at its Nakskov factory in Denmark by installing new evaporators. The water is extracted from the thin juice in the evaporation station with less pressure and therefore less energy.
Sustainability starts in the field
It is important to Nordzucker to think about sustainability along the entire value chain – from the grower to the consumer. As part of its sustainability strategy, the company is continuously evaluating measures to ensure a lower carbon footprint in future, already on the field. Since this year, Nordzucker has been using CO₂-reduced fertiliser in a pilot project on its first beet fields. Trials on mechanical weed control will lead to less use of pesticides in future. Flower strips at the edges of the fields, which interested growers can obtain as a seed mixture from Nordzucker, also contribute to greater biodiversity. In this way, growers not only offer insects an additional, varied habitat, but these insects also act as beneficial insects and reduce pests at the same time.
Sugar prices fall – world market for sugar remains volatile
In recent years, sugar companies have been able to benefit from very high prices on the sugar market and compensate well for increases in the cost of energy, raw materials and logistics. “The sugar market is volatile. As expected, sugar prices on the global market and in the EU are decreasing again. The reasons for this include a general reluctance to buy amongst consumers, a good harvest in the EU and imports from Ukraine. We are keeping a very close eye on market developments and managing our sugar production accordingly,” emphasises Alexander Godow.