British Sugar announces minimum price for 2024/25
25th September 2023
As this year’s sugar beet campaign gets into full swing, and growers are planning crop rotations for next year, British Sugar has announced its current offer for the 2024/25 year, plus a ‘market-linked bonus’.
British Sugar has announced a guaranteed minimum sugar beet price of £37.50 per tonne for 2024/25.
Whilst sugar prices are currently high, so far, few sales contracts have been agreed for October 2024 to September 2025, when spring-planted beet will be sold as sugar.
With the market very volatile, British Sugar has designed a ‘market-linked bonus’, which can be paid when pricing is agreed and there is a reasonable crop.
If sugar markets in 2024/25 are the same as today, the company has said it will give growers a top-up, taking the overall price of the beet crop to above £40 a tonne.
Growers can also ensure a minimum guaranteed income through opting for British Sugar’s yield protection product, and it offers a futures-linked contract for those who want more pricing risk.
British Sugar increased the beet price by 48% to £40/tonne for 2023/24 and offered a yield protection product to help growers manage the risks in their business.
This was introduced to ensure a fair price for beet growers, in light of sharp increases in agricultural costs and competitor crops offering attractive margins relative to beet.
Since the beet price was set last year, British Sugar says total grower input costs have reduced, including fertiliser by 50%. Prices of other crops have fallen, with the wheat price reducing by 30%, and OSR by 35%.
A statement sent to growers today (25th September) by British Sugar reads: ‘Despite these changes we are keeping our fixed price element as high as we can for 2024/25 because we want beet to remain a financially attractive part of your rotation, encouraging you to invest in beet for the future.
‘For 2024/25 we are aiming to offer you a fair deal that, like this year, builds a good margin for you as well as sharing any sugar market upside we may see. So far, we have not been able to agree a deal with NFU Sugar, but we wanted you to know that our current offer to them guarantees that the minimum price you will receive for beet will be £37.50 a tonne.’
British Sugar is working with NFU Sugar to agree an offer to present jointly to growers.
For further information you can contact your British Sugar account manager or the farm support team on freephone 0800 090 2376.
