Astarta Agro-Industrial Holding, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, started sugar beet processing at a plant in Vinnytsia region on August 24, with a total of five plants of the agricultural group operating this season, the press service of the agricultural holding reported on its Facebook page.
According to the report, two plants in Poltava region are scheduled to be launched at the end of the week, and two more in September.
“The season has started successfully. The first plant is now online and operating at full capacity. We will soon start shipping the first batches of high-quality sugar to Ukrainian consumers. In general, our investments in the sugar segment were aimed at improving the energy efficiency of the plants. We also focused on improving staff motivation and product quality,” said Igor Rylyk, Director of Agricultural Processing at Astarta.
At the same time, the agricultural enterprises of the agro-industrial holding, which are the main suppliers of raw materials for Astarta’s sugar factories, continue harvesting sugar beet, the total area of which this year is 38 thousand hectares.
Currently, the holding’s plants are working on their own raw materials, and starting from September 1, sugar beet will be supplied for processing by farms with which Astarta cooperates on a regular basis, the agricultural holding said.
In 2023, Astarta Agricultural Holding grew 39 thousand tons of sugar beet, which is 20% more than a year earlier, thanks to a record yield of 58 tons/ha against 56 tons/ha in 2022, the company’s annual report said on Wednesday evening.
According to the agricultural holding, the record high sugar beet harvest extended the processing period until the end of January 2024. In total, the sugar production campaign in 2023 lasted 130 days, compared to 111 days a year earlier.
“In the 2023-2024 marketing year, Astarta increased sugar production by 34% year-on-year to 377 thousand tons. At the same time, the volume of sugar beet processing in 2023 increased by 37% compared to the same period last year and reached 2.7 million tons. The market share remained unchanged at 21% in 2023.
In 2023, Astarta, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, reduced its net profit by 5.0% to EUR 61.9 million, and its EBITDA decreased by 6.1% to EUR 145.77 million, while revenue increased by 21.3% to EUR 618.93 million.
