Despite extensive company restructuring and the imminent sale of
its sugar division, Netherlands-based ingredients group CSM today
announced strong profits in the first half and is optimistic the
upward trend will continue.
Singapore-based coffee, nuts and cocoa group Olam reported much
improved profits for 2006, thanks to significantly higher volumes
across all its segments as well as better product pricing.
British sugar growers can breathe a sigh of relief after learning
that one of the country's foremost beet producers will not be
closing facilities as originally thought.
European sugar giant Suedzucker expects a revenue increase of 5 per
cent in 2006 / 07, underlining the group's confidence in the future
of the EU sugar sector.
The chairman of Kraft Foods, the world's second biggest food
company, Roger Deromedi, has launched an attack on EU and US trade
barriers that are driving up the price of commodity ingredients
such as sugar and coffee.
Sugar prices on China's futures market fell sharply this week as
the government announced that it would auction 552,000 tons, mostly
from its reserve stocks, to stabilise prices.
Agrana, which claims to be the leading sugar and starch producer in
Central and Eastern Europe, plans to expand its activities towards
the Western Balkans.
Japanese scientists have reported that monoacyl sugar alcohols
could be 'very promising emulsifiers' and could offer an
alternative to the widely used monoacyl glycerols.
ABF's offer to acquire 51 per cent of Illovo, Africa's largest
sugar producer, underlines how the new EU sugar regime has forced
European sugar producers to think truly globally.
A federal court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by McNeil
Nutritionals, the marketer of Splenda, against the Sugar
Association, accusing it of false advertising.
Food and beverage firms making premium products will cope best with
the current surge in price of both Chinese and imported sugar, with
higher margins to cover the rise in costs.
Greencore, the ingredients and food service group, said EU sugar
reform would force it to pull out of the sugar sector this year,
effectively spelling the end of sugar processing in Ireland.
Danisco says that the finalisation of the new EU sugar regime and
the recently announced transitional measures will not affect the
firm's planned efficiency drive.
Thousands of confectionery industry jobs have been lost as a result
of manufacturers relocating due to high sugar prices, according to
the US Department of Commerce.
Soaring sugar prices are set to continue with supplies remaining
tight, despite increased production, according to the US Department
of Agriculture (USDA).
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced it will allow
extra sugar imports into the country in an effort to prevent market
shortages after hurricane damage to sugarcane crops, delayed sugar
beet harvests, disruptions...
The EU is confident that the sugar reforms announced last week give
producers a long-term competitive future, though firms such as Tate
& Lyle remain cautious.
Four key factors will determine whether this week's EU discussions
regarding the sugar regime have been a success or a failure, says a
key industry body.
The UK department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra)
claims that there is strong support for EU sugar reform, though
opinion across Europe remains divided.
Ferro introduced its new high-purity, low-endotoxin sucrose,
maltose and trehalose sugars at the recent CPhI in Madrid, designed
to improve product quality and broaden the market for injectable
protein-based APIs.
A low-calorie sweetener that tastes exactly like sugar and could
help control diseases like diabetes and obesity could be just round
the corner, according to a new study.
The USDA has increased the levels of sugar that producers are
allocated to supply in a bid to avert total disaster following
hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Sugar reform may yet hijack December's WTO talks as Australia,
Brazil and Thailand again accuse the EU of shirking its obligations
by planning to increase sugar exports by two million tonnes.
A new centre-right government in Poland is unlikely to curb the
country's strong opposition to EU sugar reforms as Commission
representatives look for common ground to break the 'no' camp.
Tate & Lyle's ice cream sweetening system has been named as one
of the finalists at a forthcoming trade show competition, though
the company may soon face a struggle to protect its valuable
sucralose patent.
CSM's sugar beet processing plant in Hoogkerk, the Netherlands is
now fully online following the closure of the firm's Breda factory
earlier this year.
EU farm ministers met with African and Caribbean counterparts on
Monday to discuss the sweeping EU sugar reform that will bring
cheaper sugar ingredients into the bloc.
Oversupply of sugar in the EU and higher energy costs combine to
knock profits for the year at British Sugar, its owner Associated
British Foods warned today.
Refined sugar giant Imperial Sugar has announced a return to
operations at its Gramercy, Louisiana plant following the
devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.
US sugar processor Imperial Sugar will sell subsidiary Holly Sugar
Corp. as low margins coupled with high energy costs have put
pressure on the company.
The Sugar Association wants the FDA to introduce more aggressive
labeling regulations that would split out the different sugars and
sweeteners on the nutritional facts panel, just as the labeling of
trans fats will be mandatory from...
Tate & Lyle has vowed to continue to pursue its ambitious
expansion plans despite warnings that proposed changes to the sugar
regime could begin to affect business as soon as 2007, writes
Anthony Fletcher.
In a move to secure its supplier base for its bakery operations and
expand its business, the UK's Real Good Food Company (RGFC) said
yesterday it would buy Napier Brown Foods, a sugar group, for
£67.7min stock.
Number one food enzyme supplier Novozymes likely to move production
to the US and China as a result of the new EU sugar reform, the
daily Berlingske Tidende reports.
The first wrangling over EU sugar reform proposals by agriculture
ministers saw protests and a passionate debate in Brussels
yesterday, but the opposition looks increasingly isolated,
reports Chris Mercer.