AGRANA – 2007|08 sugar beet, potato and wet corn campaigns successfully concluded

During the 2007|08 campaign, the entire AGRANA Group processed approximately 4.62 million tonnes (prior year: 4.74 million tonnes) of sugar beet to produce a total of 671,000 tonnes of sugar.

Sugar beet campaign
During the 2007|08 campaign, the entire AGRANA Group processed approximately 4.62 million tonnes (prior year: 4.74 million tonnes) of sugar beet to produce a total of 671,000 tonnes of sugar.

Sugar beet campaign - Austria
The 2007|08 sugar beet campaign at the Austrian refineries in Leopoldsdorf and Tulln came to an end on January 12 and 14, 2008, respectively. Of the sugar beet harvested, 2.52 million tonnes (prior year: 2.50 million tonnes) were subsequently processed, from which a total of 379,000 tonnes of sugar (prior year: 407,600) were refined.

The lower sugar yield is accounted for by the unfavorably weather conditions in spring and summer. The wet weather prevailing at harvest time not only led to difficult harvesting conditions, but also significantly reduced the sugar content to 16.6% compared with 17.9% a year earlier. The 2007|08 sugar beet campaign in Tulln and Leopoldsdorf lasted for a total of 103 days (prior year: 99 days).

International subsidiaries
The subsidiaries in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania were also affected by the unfavorable weather conditions, which likewise led to reductions in both the beet harvest and sugar contents in these countries.

“The 2007|08 sugar campaign was, in many respects, taxing and a new experience”, remarked Johann Marihart, Chief Executive Officer of AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG, on the past campaign. “The drought in the spring and summer, followed by the wet fall, were a challenge. Nonetheless, we were able to fill the sugar quota of 655,000 tonnes. The investment in the biogas plant at the Kaposvar|Hungary site, the first of its kind in Europe, is a complete success”, Marihart added.

AGRANA Group - sugar beet processing

* White sugar from refining of raw sugar

Potato campaign
The Austrian potato campaign, which ended on December 20, 2007, involved the processing of 195,371 tonnes of starch potatoes (prior year: 187,400 tonnes) to produce 39,883 tonnes of potato starch.  The average starch content this year fell to 17.4% from 19% in the previous year, also as a result of adverse weather conditions.

Wet corn campaign
The longest ever Austrian wet corn campaign, extending from September 4 to December 5,  2007, led to the largest amount of freshly harvested wet corn ever processed, namely 103,000 tonnes (prior year: 84,000 tonnes). In the 2007|08 Hungarian wet corn campaign, the processing of 21,000 tonnes of wet corn generated 14,000 tonnes of final products (starch, isoglucose and ethanol).

This press release is available online in German and English at http://www.agrana.com/.

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