Investments in sugar industry

The construction of a sugar refinery requires huge investments, which is explained by the high cost of equipment and the adaptation of engineering solutions to the needs of a particular enterprise.

Many sugar refineries are located far from sugar cane or sugar beet growing areas, so a well-developed infrastructure is also necessary for the efficient operation of the business.

The path from the farm to the packaging of white sugar that meets international standards is quite long and often runs through the territory of several countries or even continents. Investments in the sugar industry include the construction of infrastructure for the delivery of raw sugar by ships and trains, the development of logistics hubs and warehouses, the construction of sugar refineries, and much more.

Advanced technological, marketing and financial solutions contribute to the optimization of investment costs, positively affecting the business competitiveness.

ESFC Investment Group offers long-term loans for the construction of sugar refineries, organizes project finance schemes, and also provides financial engineering and financial modeling services for large companies in the sugar industry.

Together with international partners, we are also ready to provide ready-made comprehensive solutions based on the EPC contract, which include engineering, construction and financing of your project.

Contact us for details.

Current state and prospects of investments in the sugar industry

More than a hundred countries around the world produce sugar, with 80% of global production coming from sugar cane.

Brazil, India, China, the USA, the European Union and Thailand remain the leaders in the sugar industry in 2022. These countries account for the largest investments in sugar production plants and other infrastructure related to the cultivation and processing of raw sugar. Large projects are also underway in Egypt, Mexico and a number of other countries, which mainly have access to supplies of cheap raw cane sugar and seek to meet growing local demand.

The cost of building a sugar refinery can range from a couple of tens of millions of dollars to several hundred million dollars for large projects.

One such project is the sugar plant in Egypt, which will cost about $400 million and be the largest in the world. The launch of the project was announced by Canal Sugar Company in the first half of 2022. The first production lines with a capacity of about 18 thousand tons of sugar per day should be put into operation in 2023.

European countries, the USA, China and Brazil are considered to be the world leaders in sugar consumption.

In 2021, global sugar consumption increased for the first time after a long period of decline caused by COVID-19.

This figure has reached 168.5 million tons, which corresponds to about 21.4 kilograms per capita. The forecast for the industrial sugar market in 2022 exceeds $38 billion, which is a modest success after $37.6 billion the previous year.

Experts believe that in the period 2022-2030 this market will increase with a compound average annual growth rate of about 2.7%, which means a stable growth in investment in the sugar industry. Developing countries in Africa, the Middle East and East Asia are largely responsible for the growing demand for sugar. In the Asia-Pacific region alone, sugar consumption exceeded $16 billion in 2021, with a clear upward trend.

However, the market is still recovering from the collapse in demand as a result of the pandemic (about -18% in 2020), and the recent soaring natural gas prices have significantly affected the cost of refined sugar.

The opening of restaurants and cafes around the world, the growing production of baked goods, sweets, ice cream, soft drinks and alcohol is expected to stimulate investment in the sugar industry, as well as fuel investor interest in the related ethanol industry.

International sugar trade rates fluctuate widely depending on weather and crop conditions, as well as marketing and logistical factors. Thus, in 2020, the international trade in sugar exceeded 63.1 million tons, which is a historical record. In 2021, this figure was almost 4.78 million tons lower, due to a lower cane harvest in Southeast Asia and a sharp decline in Brazilian exports.

As for future developments, experts predict a gradual increase in cane sugar exports from India, which has made significant progress in the sugar industry.

Growth in consumption of candy, confectionery, processed foods and sugar-added drinks continues to fuel market growth. An important driver of the recent growth has been a healthy lifestyle, which includes the consumption of less processed raw sugar instead of refined products. Many consumers prefer to buy organic sugar, despite the relatively high price.

These trends have led to the growth of new industries, including investments in sugar refineries producing healthy sugars.

The largest sugar producers in the world

A significant part of the world sugar industry is currently divided among several large multinational companies such as Sudzucker, Cosan, Tereos and others.

Given the huge financial strength of these companies, they will maintain their technological edge and marketing leadership through increased funding for the modernization of existing sugar refineries and the expansion of innovative products in the coming years.

However, experts expect successful start-ups and small players to enter the market to offer organic products and brown sugar in line with changing consumer demands.

Sudzucker

Südzucker AG is the largest German sugar producer based in Mannheim and majority-owned by local sugar beet cooperatives.

It is the largest sugar producer in the world and one of the largest food companies in Germany. The company employs about 19 thousand people worldwide. In the 2019/20 financial year, Südzucker's total sales were around 6.67 billion euros.

Südzucker has a number of specialized divisions that focus on different industries, including CropEnergies, which invests in the production of bioethanol.

Südzucker goes back to Süddeutsche-Zucker-AG, which emerged in 1926 from the merger of five regional sugar refineries. With the acquisition of major sugar refineries in France, Poland and other European countries, Südzucker has become the largest sugar producer in the EU since 1996. In 2005, 5.2 million tons of sugar were produced at its facilities, equivalent to 21.8% of sugar production in the EU-25.

Today Südzucker has plants under the Südzucker brand in only three European countries: Germany, Poland and Moldova. Subsidiaries were founded in Poland (Südzucker Polska) and Moldova (Südzucker Moldova).

Tereos

Tereos S.A. is a French sugar business group that emerged in 2002 from the takeover of Beghin-Say by Sucreries et Distilleries des Hauts de France (SDHF) and the Union Sugar Mills and Agricultural Distilleries (Union SDA).

The company's activities are focused on the processing of sugar cane, sugar beets and cereals.

The group also processes potatoes and cassava into starch products.

Tereos has 19,800 employees at 442 manufacturing sites in Europe, Latin America, Africa, the Indian Ocean and Indonesia. It is the 1st sugar producer in France and the 3rd sugar producing group in Brazil. The company's total sales in the 2021/2022 financial year exceeded 5.1 billion euros, making Tereos the world's second largest sugar producer.

The history of Tereos is closely connected with the history of beet cultivation in France. The group includes, on the one hand, beet growers organized in cooperatives, and, on the other hand, large industrial companies with a history of two centuries, pioneers in the production of beet sugar in France.

In 2002, the merger of the cooperatives with the old family business Beghin-Say made the new group the leader in France in the production of sugar and the second sugar producer in Europe.

The activities of the group were not limited to investments in sugar refineries. In 1993, the company began processing cereals to produce ethanol, and in 1996 it started the production of sweeteners. In 2000, Tereos opened sugarcane processing plant in Brazil.

Today, Tereos processes agricultural raw materials into sugar and sweeteners, ethanol, electricity, starch, animal feed and vegetable proteins.

Cosan

Cosan S.A. is a large Brazilian company engaged in the production of sugar, alcohol, energy, as well as providing logistics services.

The company is investing in plants that produce and export ethanol and sugar, generating energy using sugar cane cake. It also supplies pipeline gas to Brazil and handles the logistics of sugar and other bulk solids for export. Producing lubricants and special products, the company is known in more than 40 countries in South America, Europe and Asia.

Investments in sugar refineries are not the main focus of the company's activities.

However, the group manages 175,000 hectares of land under sugar cane, soybeans, corn and cotton, constantly expanding its scope of interest in the agricultural business and the food industry.

Associated British Foods

Associated British Foods plc (ABF) is a large multinational food company.

The company was founded by Garfield Weston in 1935, initially as Food Investments Limited. Headquartered in London, ABF is one of the world's top five sugar producers and is also a world leader in food enzymes, emulsifiers and baker's yeast.

Its retail divisions are successfully developing in the UK, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and other countries. The company actively invests in various sectors of the food industry, both in the UK and in the countries of the European Union and beyond.

In 2021, the company's total revenue was around £13.9 billion. A significant portion of ABF's assets are sugar refineries and other infrastructure for the production of sugar and related products.

The total number of ABF employees is about 128 thousand people worldwide.

The controlling stake in the company belongs to Wittington Investments.

Mitr Phol Group

Mitr Phol Group is a leading Thai cane sugar company and one of the world's largest exporters.

This large private company, owned by influential Thai businessmen, invests heavily in the sugar industry of China, Laos, Australia and other countries in the region. The company has extensive interests in the production of renewable energy and wood substitutes, among other things.

Sugar production Mitr Phol originates in 1946 with small local sugar refineries producing sugar syrup.

In the 2000s, it was already a huge company, known far beyond the borders of Thailand. The company's revenue in 2018 was 90 billion baht, which corresponds to approximately $2.5 billion.

Nordzucker AG (Germany), Biosev (Brazil), Thai Roong Ruang Group (Thailand), Wilmar Intl Ltd (Singapore) and Cargill (USA) continue the list of the largest sugar producers in the world.

Modern sugar production is a capital-intensive industry that requires significant investment.

If you are considering building a new sugar plant or investing in sugarcane / beet farming, please contact our representatives for details.

ESFC Investment Group has experience in financing projects in the agriculture and food industry around the world.