Romanian sugar company Zahar Bod to resume production in 2023
Zahar Bod, a 133-year-old sugar factory in Romania, will resume production in 2023 after it was taken over by local group Best Achizitii following prolonged insolvency procedures, G4media.ro reported. It has already begun negotiations to seal pre-contracting for next year’s beet production from farmers.
Best Achizitii acquired 60% of the sugar factory in Brasov in February 2022. At that time, it estimated the investments needed for resuming production at EUR 1 mln.
In the first year of activity, the new owner aims to process around 200,000 tonnes of sugar beet in the factory, which is the crop harvested from an area of 4,000 hectares. This would result in the production of 28,000 tonnes of sugar.
This would make it the second Romanian sugar factory on the market after the local farmers purchased Ludus production capacity from French Tereos. The French owners initially announced plans to shut down the Ludus factory, but the Government stepped in and intermediated talks with the farmers.
A group of 400 farmers from Transylvania, organized in an association led by the Sibiu farmer Teodor Aflat, succeeded in taking over the Ludus sugar factory that the French Tereos group was planning to close down.
Beet growers say they have persuaded the French group to sell them a majority stake, Profit.ro reported. But the terms of the contract are confidential.
Canned food producer Scandia, located not far from Ludus in Sibiu, was reportedly among those exploring the options to take over the sugar factory - but they reported that the French owners asked for a "prohibitive price" and a binding offer before the evaluation of the factory.
Romania imports some 75% of the 500,000 tonnes of sugar it consumes. Only two local sugar producers are still in operation in Romania: one in Ludus (taken over by farmers) and another (with two processing locations) operated by Agrana.
Source: RomaniaInsider.com