EU beet crop needs more sun to boost sugar content after wet summer
09/09/2021 13:39
PARIS, Sept 9 (Reuters) - More warm and sunny weather is
needed in top sugar beet European Union producers to boost the
crop's sugar content, notably in France which suffered from
particularly wet conditions this summer, producers said.
The final level of sugar production in the EU, the world's
third largest sugar maker, is keenly watched as prices are
hovering near four-year highs LSUc1 SBc1 , buoyed by
prospects of large global sugar deficit this season after a poor
harvest in top producer Brazil. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2PY0G6
"We had quite poor weather with a lot of water. Leaves
developed well but the sugar content is very low," Timothe
Masson, market analyst at French growers group CGB, said.
He expected France, traditionally the EU's top sugar
producer, to see a 6% fall in yield compared to the 2015-2019
average, which, combined with a drop in sown area would lead to
a sugar output of 4.2 million tonnes this year.
However, good weather could raise output to 4.5 million
tonnes, in line with the five-year average, he said.
"That's a 300,000 difference. We would need twice more if we
wanted to have a surplus at EU level," Masson said.
"If the good weather lasts, we could catch up the delay but
we won't do a big yield either," he added.
Weather forecasts point to above average temperatures http://wxmaps.org/pix/temp4
and little rain until at least Sept. 17 in the main EU sugar
beet producing areas.
France harvested an extremely poor beet crop in 2020 after
pest attacks caused jaundice disease to ravage crops.
This year's outlook was better in Germany where the sugar
beet harvest started this week and work is expected to get
underway on a large scale in the next couple of weeks.
Germany's refined sugar production from beets in the 2021/22
season is forecast to rise to some 4.38 million tonnes from 4.10
million last season, German sugar industry association WVZ said.
German sugar beets benefited from a rainy summer this year,
the association said.
But, like in France, plants now need sunshine to boost beet
sugar content.
Beet harvesting in Poland, the EU's third largest sugar
producer, has started and the country's refined sugar production
is likely to rise to around 2.2 million tonnes from 1.98 million
tonnes last season despite a slight fall in sowings, Rafal
Strachota, director of beet grower's association KZPBC said.
"Unfortunately, beets are characterised by a low sugar
content. It is not as drastically low as in 2020, but everyone
is expecting the weather to improve this parameter."
Britain's sugar beet crop could potentially rise slightly
from last year's sub-par level despite a more than 10% drop in
the planted area mainly due to growers switching to other crops
after unprecedented yield losses last season caused by virus
yellows, James Northen, head of sugar at the National Farmers
Union, said.
"Overall, yields at this point in time appear to be below
normal but improving. Crops are likely to need a good spell of
sunny weather to build yields towards average," he said.
(Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris, Michael Hohan in
Hamburg and Nigel Hunt in London; editing by David Evans)
((Sybille.deLaHamaide@thomsonreuters.com; +336 8774 4148;))