EU: Sugar Snapshot
12 November 2007 In the short-term, most EU countries report high yields this year, with the exceptions of the Southeast where drought has hurt the crop, and in the UK where a wet summer and reduced sunlight hours have led to more variable yields.
During 2006/07, the first year under sugar reforms, the total EU production of sugar declined to 17,757 million metric tons (MMT) from 21,373 MMT. Production is expected to continue to decline to 16,260 MMT in 2007/08 under the restructuring scheme. The European Commission (EC) has confirmed that the sugar production quota for 2007/08 will be limited to 16,6 MMT, which is 2 MMT tons below the nominal levels.
In Germany the sugarbeet area is up by 50,404 hectares (Ha), from 355,806 Ha in 2006 to 406,210 Ha in 2007. The total German beet harvest is 26.34 MMT this season compared to 21 MMT last year. The German sugar milling industry estimates that in 2007 965 MMT of sugar will be used for industrial/non-food/feed purposes, including about 40 to 50 MMT traditional industrial use and about 920 MMT for ethanol production.
In France sugarbeet production will reach 32.3 MMT in 2007/08, up by 8.2% on the year, according to the French Ministry of Agriculture. This is 4.6% higher than the previous five-year average.
In the UK just one company, British Sugar, holds the entire country’s sugarbeet quota. UK sugarbeets are grown mainly in East Anglia and the West Midlands. In 2006, there were 7,200 growers in the UK producing 9 MMT of sugarbeets on 150,000 Ha, but these numbers are in decline.
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