8 February 2021

2020/21 campaign almost trouble-free

For the third year in a row, the 2020 growing season was characterized by a lack of rainfall in many regions. However, the start of rainfall at the end of the summer provided a boost to sugar beet growth and led to a slightly above-average yield of 69.5 tons of beet per hectare across the Group. At 17.7% sugar content, the five-year average was not quite achieved.

Nordzucker expects to process more than 16.5 million tonnes of beet (previous year: 15.7 million tonnes) across all 13 European plants at the end of this year’s campaign. Örtofta is the last plant expected to finish processing in the second week of February. Overall, the company expects the campaign to be longer than last year, lasting more than 117 days (110 days). This year, organic beets were again processed into organic sugar at the three plants in Schladen, Nykøbing and Kedainiai. 

For the most part of the campaign the plants have run very reliably and almost trouble-free. The investments in environmental measures, efficiency and product quality have proven their worth. For the coming years, investments in reduced energy use and lower CO₂ emissions, as well as the performance of the plants, will be the driving forces.