Südzucker: Angry protests in France
March 14, 2019 at 10:44 AM ,
Der AUDITOR
Dominic Risser, the company spokesman, explained on Tuesday that global competition is extremely distorted, which is partly due to the production subsidies in India and Thailand. Südzucker, headquartered in Mannheim, is the world's leading beet sugar producer to date with production ranging well over five million tonnes.
Protests in France
Several factories will fall victim to the new strategy, two in France, two in Germany and one in Poland. On Tuesday, the sugar beet growers from Cagny (Normandy) and Eppeville (Hauts-de-France) protested against the closure of the two French factories. If the plans are implemented, around 2,500 farmers will lose around 40 percent of their income, explained Franck Sander, President of the Beet Growers' Association, at a rally outside the company's headquarters.
In addition, 250 jobs in the factories themselves will be affected and many people would also be indirectly affected. Sander wants to propose to Südzucker's management that the farmers take over the two threatened factories if operations are really shut down next year. Risser stressed that “[w]e have every intention of closing these factories”. The aim is to reduce the overcapacity.
Südzucker had announced plant closures earlier this year. Annual production is to be cut by 700,000 tonnes. Annual savings should thereby amount to up to EUR 100 million. For the 2018/19 financial year, the company anticipates a decline in revenues of EUR 100 to 200 million due to the decline in prices.
The sugar prices in Germany have taken a missive dip over the last few weeks. Granulated sugar is at present trading around 0.45 EUR/kg DDP Germany.
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