Nordic Sugar has announced the closure of its standalone refinery in Porkalla, Finland, with raw sugar refining to be moved to the company’s beet factory. The decision marks the first closure of a standalone refinery in the EU since quotas ended, during a period in which 22 beet factories have either closed or been mothballed.

The announcement arrives during a quieter period for EU sugar trade, with values last week at EUR 475/tonne ex works beet belt, EUR 520/tonne DDP North Italy, EUR 525/tonne DDP Iberia and EUR 545/tonne DDP UK, according to Soft Commodity Consulting. Activity remains subdued, and further trade will depend in part on summer weather and its effect on impulse buying of sugary products such as ice cream and soft drinks.

Other corporate developments in the European sector point in a similar direction. Agrana reported EBIT of only EUR 3.2 million on poor performance in its sugar division and will take non-cash impairment charges of EUR 46 million. Südzucker has yet to announce but is understood to be preparing impairment charges in the region of EUR 550 million. Tereos was downgraded last month by Fitch from BB stable to negative and continues to divest non-core businesses to trim debt, most recently its shareholding in Kagera Sugar in Kenya. ABF is due to announce interim results on 22 April, with further detail expected on plans to split off Primark as a separate entity.

The field picture is mixed. France has practically completed beet planting and the UK stood at 90% last week, while the Netherlands is at 65% completion as of 15 April and Belgium is also lagging. Early aphid alerts are being produced in regions south of Paris such as Val de Loire and in the Netherlands, with sightings well in advance of normal seasons following a mild winter across Northern Europe.

On pricing for the next campaign, Crystal Union announced a beet price of EUR 35.14/tonne for beet contracted in 2025 and EUR 25.50/tonne for out-of-contract beet, boosted by a EUR 3/tonne add-on funded from the cooperative’s reserves. Crystal Union stated it expects sugar prices for 2026/27 to fall in the range of EUR 600 to EUR 650/tonne.


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