Nordzucker Post 02/2022 - 2 June 2022

Lars Gorissen: Positive outlook – securing the campaign

Dear Readers

Shortly before the Annual General Meetings, we can report a very good result for the past financial year and a positive outlook for the current financial year despite the disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine. Looking beyond current events, we have a clear plan for the future with our strategy: sustainability, excellence and growth.

Currently, each of us needs a high degree of adaptability. The war in Ukraine has completely changed market dynamics and made them more unpredictable than ever. Supply bottlenecks have worsened, commodity prices are catapulting upwards with high volatility, and when it comes to sourcing energy and auxiliary materials, fertilisers and investment goods, it is often and unfamiliarly a question of whether rather than price for all of us.

The beets are developing independently of world events. We hope for rain for the beet as soon as possible and are generally optimistic about the harvest. The markets, i.e. our customers and consumers, need the sugar we will produce. Nordzucker has formulated two clear goals in this situation. First: the campaign must run. Second: beet cultivation must remain attractive.

We assume that we have energy and all the necessary materials available for the campaign. Where possible, we are preparing to use different energy sources for our plants.

For next year, we have already submitted the offer for the 2023 cultivation contracts in Germany. In it, we are taking into account the increased costs in beet cultivation. As of today, we expect beet prices to be significantly higher than the minimum prices offered due to the sharp increase in sugar prices in the EU. At the same time, we keep the right to remain flexible in order to be able to react to developments on the markets, especially on the sugar market and the energy markets. The aim is to make beet cultivation attractive even in these special times and to secure the beet’s permanent place in the crop rotation in the long term. With Nordzucker, the farmer has a reliable long-term partner. In addition to attractive beet prices, we offer cultivation advice, digital tools, innovative approaches to crop protection, support with logistics, information and close exchange.

I look forward to a direct exchange with our shareholders at our Annual General Meeting on 20 July 2022 in Braunschweig and wish you interesting reading of the Nordzucker Post today.

Yours,
Lars Gorissen