HAMBURG (Reuters) – Germany’s refined sugar production from beets in the new 2024/25 season is forecast to rise to about 4.77 million metric tons, up about 13% from last season’s 4.22 million tons, the WVZ sugar association said on Monday in its first harvest forecast.
The country’s farmers increased plantings to 385,000 hectares of sugar beet for the new crop, up 5.7% from last season, the association said.
Farmers elsewhere in Europe planted more sugar beet for this season, partly encouraged by high sugar prices late last year.
In the new 2024/25 season, German farmers are expected to deliver 31.59 million tons of beets to sugar factories for processing, up from 29.81 million tons last season, the association said.
Average sugar beet crop yields are estimated at 81.9 tons per hectare, against 81.8 tons last season. Average beet sugar content this season is estimated at 17.2%, up from 16.4% last season.
German sugar beet harvesting has now started after springtime rain delayed some plantings, the association said.
“Test cuttings indicate an average sugar content and a good crop yield this year,” it said. “Reasons are the good supply of water and sufficient sunshine so far this year.”
(Reporting by Michael Hogan; Editing by Louise Heavens and David Goodman)
