The sugar group Tereos announced on Wednesday March 8 the closure of two industrial sites in France, as part of a project to “reorganize its industrial activity” in the country. Despite the rise in the price of sugar, Tereos (brand Béghin Say), the world’s second largest sugar group, explains its decision by “a sustainable reduction” in the production of sugar beets in 2023-24 (approximately -10% of areas planted on one year) and lower yields, due in particular to the risk of jaundice, according to a press release.
Faced with these difficulties and “the challenges of decarbonization and modernization of its infrastructures”, Tereos decided to stop the sugar activity of its site of Escaudoeuvres in the North (123 positions concerned) and of its distillery of Morains in the Marne (26 positions).
The management of Tereos France, which announced these closure plans on Wednesday to the representatives of the personnel concerned, affirms that it wants to favor a reclassification of its employees via “internal mobility”, by offering “different positions within the other sites” of the group in the region, explains Christophe Lescroart, director of agricultural and industrial activities Europe, quoted in the press release.
Tereos is looking for a buyer for the Haussimont site
In Escaudoeuvres, the sugar factory will close but thirty positions will be maintained on the logistics center of the site, which includes storage silos, it was specified. The group justified the closure of the sugar factory by “a drop in committed beet volumes, which is mainly explained by agronomic reasons (crop rotation, drought, jaundice)”.
This drop in sown areas, by 10% on average in the beet region, is greater in the Escaudoeuvres sector, where the collection and production campaign, usually lasting 110 days, is this year estimated at only 25 to 45 days. Beet production close to the Escaudoeuvres site will therefore be “worked on neighboring sites”, specifies the group.
The Morains distillery is the only one of the group’s six not to be integrated into an industrial site. The decision to close it is linked to a decrease in volumes processed and the “underutilization” of the site for several years. In addition, Tereos has announced that it is seeking a buyer for its potato starch plant at its Haussimont site (Marne).
On February 22, the group announced its results for the third quarter but said it expected an increase in its net debt due to rising commodity and energy prices. During this quarter ended at the end of December, the net profit of the world’s second sugar producer increased by 5%, to 94 million euros, while its gross operating surplus (Ebitda) recorded growth of 37% in adjusted data, at 305 million euros, according to a press release. Its turnover jumped 34% to 1.8 billion euros.