The Sugar Beet Sector
80% of the sugar we consume comes from sugar cane. Sugar beet generates the remaining 20%. This plant is used for another dynamic market: the bioethanol market (9% of Sugar Beet production in 2017).
Main global sugar beet producers in 2014 (Thousands of tonnes)
– France, with 37 845 tonnes;
– Russia, with 33 513 tonnes;
– Germany, with 29 748 tonnes.
The Italian market: in full transformation
In 2016/2017, European sugar beet growers produced 16,8 million tonnes of sugar. In Italy, the cooperative COPROB, the last major producer of sugar beet in the country, produces 284,000 tonnes a year in its plants in Minerbio and Pontelongo. It is undergoing a process of diversification with cane sugar refining, the conversion of former refineries for use with bioplastics and the construction of a biomass thermoelectric plant.
COPROB italian sugar sector leader
• 56% of the national quota;
• 7,000 associates;
• 202 million euros of revenue in 2016;
• 33,000 ha of Sugar Beets, 5% of the total area managed by the cooperative;
• 1 million ha of crops.
TIMAC AGRO wins over Italy
With our solutions, our Italian teams have persuaded farmers from the COPROB cooperative. Better quality sugar beet, superior sugar content, increased yields and benefits: the combination hits the bullseye! Our product sales increased, our success attracted the interest of local fertiliser retailers and… a 3 years partnership was signed at the end of 2017 between TIMAC AGRO Italia and COPROB.
The COPROB leaders invited to the Centre Mondial de l’Innovation Roullier bolstered our scientific mission with the Italian sugar sector. We particularly studied two major issues in: preserving, to diminish the loss of sugar between the first and the last harvest (September to November) and improving sugar yields per hectare.