Nordzucker Post 06/2021 - 21 October 2021

Campaign 2021/22: Factories off to a good start

Currently, many Nordzucker factories have processed about a quarter of their planned beet volume. Axel Aumüller, COO, says: “In most of the factories, the campaign has gone without any major disruptions so far. However, the sugar contents are at a lower level than in previous years, but the yields are significantly higher.” This is due to the weather (more rainfall) and higher pressure with leaf diseases (new leaf growth costs sugar).

For a short period of time, the supply of sugar beet to the Clauen and Nordstemmen factories had to be secured at the beet yards by loading mice. As the transport of sugar beet from the beet yard was interrupted, the beet was loaded onto the conveyor belt directly in front of the factory with mice, thus securing the factory’s supply. The transport problems could be eliminated relatively quickly.

Yield estimation have been revised upwards in many countries. Due to the rainfall in August and September, the sugar beet gained weight. However, the precipitation led to a thinning of the sugar content. If processing can take place as planned in all factories, the campaign will end at the end of January 2022. In Finland, we expect the campaign to end as early as the end of November this year.

Digital beet logistics (Agri!og) was successfully introduced in Slovakia and Finland. The initial experiences in both countries are good and the programmes are running stably. This means that all countries in which we transport sugar beet are now supplied with digital logistics planning for sugar beet. In Finland, the first module, logistics planning, has been introduced, and the other tools will follow in 2022.

We have taken the railway project in northern Germany into its second year. Once again, sugar beet are transported by rail from Schleswig-Holstein to Uelzen and experience is gained. This year the beet will be loaded at the stations in Jübeck and now also in Brunsbüttel. A total of 60,000 tonnes are to be transported. The transport has got off to a good start. The yield estimation for our three sugar mills in Australia has also been revised upwards. Unfortunately, we are currently having problems with processing, especially at the largest mill, Marian. Overall, the end of the campaign at MSL will be delayed until the rainy season, which starts in December. This could mean that not all the cane can be harvested. However, we will continue to try to prevent this through timely repairs.