On April 5, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) launched an investigation into anticompetitive concerted actions on the primary sugar market against Astarta Group and Radekhiv Sugar LLC (Lviv region), the committee said on its website on Monday.
The state regulator said that over the past few months it had studied the situation when these companies, which together occupy a significant share of 40% to influence the Ukrainian beet sugar market, in September-November 2020, similarly increased wholesale selling prices for sugar by an average of 48%.
The committee said that it sees no objective grounds for such a price increase, since there was no sugar deficit in Ukraine at that time, taking into account the transitional reserves, import volumes and a decrease in domestic consumption. The committee said that the production of this product in Ukraine last year decreased by 22.3% compared to 2019, the yield of sugar beet decreased by 7.8%, its sugar content by 1.7%, and its sown area by 2.7%.
It is also specified that Astarta Group and Radekhiv Sugar similarly limited competition in the market, having received the opportunity to raise prices above the competitive level, although they are in different conditions of economic activity.
The AMCU said, citing data from the London Stock Exchange, that in September-November 2020, world prices for beet sugar did not grow as sharply as in Ukraine, and there were no significant fluctuations in foreign exchange markets or an increase in taxation.
“As part of the investigation, in addition to Astarta and Radekhiv Sugar, the committee is studying the actions of other manufacturers in this market. I emphasize that the AMCU will not limit itself to checking possible non-competitive actions in the sugar market. In the near future, we will investigate the situation in the markets of other socially important products, which have risen in price recently,” the press service said, citing head of committee Olha Pischanska.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes eight sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 243,000 hectares and dairy farms with 25,000 cows, seven elevators, a biogas complex and a soybean processing plant in Poltava region (Globino Processing Plant LLC).
Radekhiv Sugar LLC is one of the largest sugar beet producers in Ukraine with production facilities in Radekhiv (Lviv region), Chortkiv, Khorostkiv, Kozova and Zbarazh (all located in Ternopil region).
According to the data on the company’s website, Radekhiv Sugar is part of the Pfeifer & Langen Investments group of companies (Poland), which, except for a Ukrainian asset, also owns five sugar factories in Germany, shares in enterprises in Poland, Romania, Italy, Hungary, Slovenia and the Czech Republic.
Agro-industrial holding Astarta, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, is going to carry out sowing work on an area of 208,200 hectares in optimal terms, despite the late start due to cold weather, the company said in a press release on Monday.
According to the agricultural holding, it will sow sugar beets on an area of 33,500 hectares, corn (59,900 hectares), soybeans (31,200 hectares), wheat (46,500 hectares), sunflower (28,100 hectares), winter rapeseed (7,200 hectares), and is also engaged in organic farming on 1,800 hectares.
Astarta noted that it is ready for the sowing season and provided with plant protection products, fertilizers and seeds. The agricultural holding said that it produces wheat and soybean seeds at its own seed plants under the Astarta Select brand
According to the company, John Deere tractors purchased in 2020-2021 will be used in the current sowing campaign, within the framework of a five-year investment program for the renewal of agricultural machinery, and properly trained personnel will be also involved into it.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes eight sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 243,000 hectares and dairy farms with 25,000 cows, seven elevators, a biogas complex and a soybean processing plant in Poltava region (Globino Processing Plant LLC)
Astarta has sold Savyntsi and Novoivanivske sugar factories due to a lack of raw materials and sugar beet producers in Kharkiv region, the press service of the company has said.
The manufacturer clarified that it intends to free up internal resources in favor of the main sugar factories in Poltava, Vinnytsia and Khmelnytsky regions through the sale of non-core assets.
Astarta also noted that in 2020 the company focused on increasing the profitability of the sugar segment and optimizing production by focusing on key sugar factories.
According to the company, export of sugar from Ukraine has been under pressure from low prices in the domestic and international markets for several years, which led to the withdrawal of some producers from the market and a decrease in production.
The co-owner of the agricultural holding, Viktor Ivanchyk, said in November 2020 that Astarta planned to sell these assets.
“Last year we worked without Savyntsi plant, and this year without Novoivanivske plant in Kharkiv region. Sugar beet is not grown around these enterprises due to weather conditions. Kharkiv region is one of the regions where the drought is most acute,” he explained.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes eight sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 243,000 hectares and dairy farms with 25,000 animals, seven elevators, a biogas complex and a soybean processing plant in Poltava region.
Astarta, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, in October-December 2020 increased sugar sales by 33% compared to the same period in 2019, to 81,180 tonnes with a 37% increase in its price, to UAH 13,240 per tonne.
As the company reported on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, sales of corn increased by 17%, to 294,560 tonnes, with a price increase of 19%, to UAH 4,860 per tonne, while wheat fell 81.8%, to 6,640 tonnes with a 34% rise in price, to UAH 5,590 per tonne.
Sales of sunflower seeds in October-December 2020 decreased by 38%, to 31,710 tonnes, soybean oil by 20%, to 8,510 tonnes, and soybean meal decreased by 12%, to 39,380 tonnes. At the same time, all these products also significantly increased in price, in particular sunflower by 22%, to UAH 10,160 per tonne, soybean oil by 49%, to UAH 25,490 per tonne and soybean meal by 51%, to UAH 12,700 per tonne.
According to the company, sales of milk in the fourth quarter of 2020 increased by 2%, to 22,230 tonnes with a price increase of 10% to UAH 11,310 per tonne.
The multiplication of these indicators leads to a sales volume of UAH 3.834 billion, which is 28.6% more than in the fourth quarter of 2019, in particular sugar sales increased by 82.1%, to UAH 1.075 billion, corn by 39.4%, to UAH 1.430 billion.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes eight sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 243,000 hectares and dairy farms with 25,000 animals, seven elevators, a biogas complex and a soybean processing plant in Poltava region (Globino Processing Plant LLC).
As reported, the net loss of Astarta in the first nine months of 2020 amounted to EUR 4.72 million versus EUR 1.93 million of net profit in the same period in 2019.
Astarta agroholding in the first quarter of 2020 received a net loss of EUR13.32 million, which is 2.7 times more than in the same period last year.
According to the company’s report on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, its revenue in the reporting period decreased by 9.8%, to EUR101.34 million due to lower sales in the crop segment, which accounted for 39% of consolidated sales compared to 52% in January-March 2019.
EBITDA increased by 1.7 times, to EUR27.78 million amid an increase in the share mainly in crop and sugar segments. EBITDA margin increased from 14% to 27% in the first quarter of 2020. Gross profit rose by 47.3%, to EUR29.87 million.
Crop production ranked first in the structure of consolidated revenue and amounted to 39%. The segment revenue declined by 33%, to EUR39 million, mainly due to a 17% year-on-year decline in corn sales, to 236,000 tonnes. Most of the grain and oilseed crop in 2019 was sold by the end of the first quarter of 2020. The export share increased to 96% compared with 91% in the corresponding period of 2019.
The sugar segment revenue grew by 46%, to EUR28.76 million (28% of revenue) due to an increase in sugar sales by 44%, to 78,000 tonnes in January-March 2020 and an improvement in sales prices to EUR352/tonne compared to EUR316/tonne in the first quarter of 2019. During the reporting period, Astarta exported 7,000 tonnes of sugar (at the level of January-March 2019), as world prices remained low.
The soybean processing segment generated revenue of EUR22 million, which is 6% lower than the first quarter of 2019 (22% of revenue), mainly due to lower prices for soybean meal and lower oil sales. Export brought 89% of revenue. Soybean oil sales decreased by 21.4%, to 11,000 tonnes, soybean meal remained at the same level as last year, at 47,000 tonnes. At the same time, oil prices increased by 14.1%, to EUR633/tonne, while for oilseed meal decreased by 3%, to EUR321 per tonne.
Astarta agricultural holding, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, has launched the first phase of a five-year investment program to update agricultural machinery and introduce IT instruments for agricultural management of AgriChain company, which is part of the agricultural holding structure.
According to the statement on Astarta’s website, the investments in 2020 were aimed at purchasing 31 tractors (John Deere), 21 grain, row crops and beet seeders (John Deere, Horsch Maestro, Pöttinger Terrasem, Kinze, Monopil, Amity Technology).
In addition, as part of the investment program, two self-propelled sprayers (John Deere), four cultivators (Amity Technology), three seed harrows of Ukrainian production and ten sets of vacuum systems for the conversion of row seeders were purchased.
New John Deere tractors with a capacity of 345 hp equipped with accurate navigation and telemetry systems that will integrate with AgriChain Farm and AgriChain Scout modules.
“The data obtained in real time will provide an opportunity to receive information, form informed decisions and create accurate daily tasks to increase technological field operations,” Astarta reported.
The agricultural holding said that in a few weeks Astarta will begin the spring sowing campaign, preparations for which are ongoing. In particular, winter wheat fertilizing is being completed and soil is being prepared for sowing spring crops.
The company’s crop rotation in 2020 will not change, since traditionally the main spring crops are sugar beets (35,000 hectares), corn (65,000 hectares), soybean (28,000 hectares) and sunflower (41,000 hectares).
Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It consists of eight sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 243,000 hectares and dairy farms with 25,000 animals, seven elevators, a biogas complex and a soybean processing plant in Poltava region (Globino Processing Plant LLC).
After three years of profitable work in 2018, Astarta received a net loss of EUR 21.11 million. Its revenue decreased by 18.8%, to EUR 372.22 million, and EBITDA fell by 52.4%, to EUR 56.87 million in 2018.
The AgriChain Farm module is designed to operate and communicate across all production services. It combines all the stages and processes of the production chain: from planning to execution and reflection. The AgriChain Scout information system is currently at the final stages of testing. It combined monitoring of the state of crops, agrochemical field certificates, meteorological data, plant vegetation status (NDVI), systematic monitoring of crops and assessment of its condition, etc.
Other modules are under development and are simultaneously being tested as pilot projects at Astarta’s subsidiary agricultural companies.
