Drought cuts Agrana’s Austrian sugar beet supply by 40%

Agrana expects to receive up to 40% fewer sugar beets from Austrian farmers this year because of drought, ORF reported. The company says Austria will not face a sugar shortage, as it has sufficient stocks and does not need to buy in additional sugar.

Agrana will process the entire Austrian beet harvest at its sugar factory in Tulln an der Donau. It expects this year’s crop to total 1.1 million tonnes, yielding about 200,000 tonnes of sugar. The previous harvest amounted to 1.9 million tonnes and produced 310,000 tonnes of sugar. Harvesting usually runs from September to November.

Agrana chief executive Stephan Büttner said the company could continue supplying retailers as usual. International sugar futures prices have risen about 40% over the past three months from a record low. Agrana’s four other sugar factories in central, eastern and southeastern Europe are also receiving significantly fewer beets because of dry conditions.

The company’s sugar business contributed to a group loss of 35.6 million euros in the 2025/26 financial year. Agrana closed sugar production at Leopoldsdorf im Marchfeld and Hrušovany in the Czech Republic in March 2025, citing low sugar prices. Its workforce fell by 600 to 8,400.

Agrana’s results improved in the first half of the 2026/27 financial year, through the end of August. Its group profit rose to 37.5 million euros from 1.1 million euros a year earlier, while revenue was nearly unchanged at 1.7 billion euros. The company expects full-year operating profit of 90 million to 110 million euros, well above the previous year, and says it is focusing on integrating Austria Juice and Mercator-Emba.