Costs Of Making Beet Sugar In Europe

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30368, 18 February 1964, Page 20

Costs Of Making Beet Sugar In Europe

The cheapest beet sugar produced in the European Economic Community costs the consumer 9.3 d per lb. This is in France, which lias the lowest tax (less than Id per lb) of any of the Six. Without tax, the Frenchman’s sugar would cost him 8.5 d per lb. Tax-free sugar would cost 7.9 d per lb in Italy (where the tax totals 4.6 d per lb) and in Holland (tax. 2.9 d)) The E.E.C.’s dearest sugar, tax-free, is Germany’s lO.ld per lb. These figures, of interest in New Zealand in view of current proposals to establish a sugar beet industry here, are taken from a recent article in the Italian banking journal published by the Banco di Roma.

The article compares the costs of sugar production in five of the six countries in the common market. Italy is apparently one of the most efficient producers, and Germany’s costs are the highest. The break-down of costs for sugar produced in each of these countries is shown as follows (prices given in lire a quintal have been converted to pence a pound): Germany Italy

The average sugar content of the Italian crop has varied in recent years from less than 14 per cent to 16.2 per cent. The article says this is lower than in other countries, and that the beet is less pure than in the countries of Central and Northern Europe. “As, unlike in those countries, beets in Italy are picked

• mainly in the months of i August and September, manui factoring hardly ever lasts . more than 60 days, whereas i in Central Europe it lasts as I long as 80 or even 90 days.” The yields from Italian crops range from 15 tons an i acre in the Po Valley (where • most of the crop is grown) . to eight tons and a half in ; the south of Italy and in the Italian islands. Most of the ; country’s 67 sugar mills are ; in the Po Valley, and have a total processing capacity of

170,000 tons of beets a day. The capacity of the average mill exceeds 2000 tons a day. The Government controls the prices of both beets and sugar. “The manner in which all countries that are lucky enough to be able to produce sugar - from beets have solved the sugar problem for many decades is a matter of general knowledge—customs protection for beets and sugar and the defence of the consumer by means of price control,” the article says. “This is the system that has been adopted also in Italy under all regimes. Nobody so far has found a different policy and nobody has ever succeeded in persuading tire responsible governments to give up local production even if it comes more expensive than the sugar offered by the international market which reflects a very modest part of world production.''

d. per lb d. per lb Grower 5.4 4.7 Transport to factory 0.6 0.4 Factory 2.2 1.9 Packing 0.1 0.1 Transport to shop 0.4 0.2 Trade mark-ups 1.4 0.6 —I— Total cost before tax 10.1 7.9