Nordzucker Post 3/2024 - 25 July 2024

Five years of Mackay Sugar – a success story

In the years prior to the acquisition, the company posted losses for many years. In the past 2023/24 financial year, Mackay Sugar Ltd. contributed 27 million euros to Nordzucker’s consolidated operating result.

‘The investment was then , and remains today, an important growth milestone for Nordzucker. For the first time, we started doing business outside Europe and in cane sugar. Our reckoning paid off. Thanks to the strong commitment of all those involved, it was a great success,’ says CEO Lars Gorissen.

With the start of its involvement Down Under, Nordzucker has launched a multi-year programme together with the local team to increase the availability and efficiency of the three factories. We are making targeted investments in stabilising and increasing the efficiency of the sites. The team, which has been reorganised and strengthened in many areas, is driving the further development of Mackay Sugar with commitment and consistency. ‘I was recently able to see this for myself during a visit in spring 2024. Sharing knowledge and experience across borders is also important to us with Australia. This year was the second time that employees from Europe were deployed in Australia during the maintenance phase. Overall, we are optimistic about the future of Mackay Sugar Ltd. and look forward to further development,’ emphasises Lars Gorissen.

The current processing period, the crush, began in early/mid-June. Mackay Sugar processes the sugar cane at all three sites, although one of the sites is not yet able to utilise its potential processing capacity for technical reasons. Improvements are being worked on at full speed.

Mackay Sugar’s Annual General Meeting was held on 18 July 2024. Afterwards, our sugar cane growers had the opportunity to put their questions directly to the Board of Directors and the management of Mackay Sugar during a topical hour. ‘With the high number of participants, the event showed us once again that it is important to remain in close contact with the growers and minority shareholders at all times – especially in light of the current operational challenges we are facing in processing at one of our sites,’ explains Michael Gerloff, Head of Business Unit Cane at Nordzucker.