Südzucker

Südzucker AG
Type	Aktiengesellschaft
Traded as	FWB: SZU
Industry	Food processing
Predecessor	Zuckerraffinerie Genthin
Founded	1926
Headquarters	Mannheim, Germany
Key people	Dr. Niels Pörksen (CEO and spokesman of the executive board), Hans-Jörg Gebhard (Chairman of the supervisory board)
Products	Sugar, starch, processed fruit products, frozen and chilled pizza, bioethanol
Revenue	€7.0 billion (2018)
Operating income	€567.6 million (2013/2014)
Net income	€281.6 million (2013/2014)
Total assets	€8.728 billion (February 2014)
Total equity	€3.979 billion (February 2014)
Number of employees	20,129 (2019)
Website	www.suedzucker.de/en/

Südzucker AG is a German company, the largest sugar producer in the world, with an annual production of around 4.8 million tonnes.

History[]

Südzucker goes back to the Süddeutsche-Zucker-AG, which emerged in 1926 from a merger of five regional sugar factories (Zuckerfabrik Frankenthal AG; Zuckerfabrik Heilbronn AG; Badische Gesellschaft für Zuckerfabrikation; Zuckerfabrik Offstein AG; Zuckerfabrik Stuttgart). The predecessor of Süddeutschen-Zucker-AG under corporate law is the Frankenthal AG sugar factory.

During the Second World War, almost all of its production capacities were destroyed, and after the end of the war the company lost its locations in the occupied territory of the Soviet Union through expropriation. In the 1950s, the remaining plants were rebuilt and expanded. In 1988 the company merged with Zuckerfabrik Franken GmbH from Ochsenfurt and the company was renamed Südzucker Mannheim / Ochsenfurt, based in Mannheim and each with a head office in Mannheim / Ochsenfurt. With the merger of these head offices in the extended building in Maximilianstrasse Mannheim at the turn of the year 2014/15, the company was renamed Südzucker AG.

The newly formed company expanded mainly through acquisitions across Europe:

1989 Tirlemontoise refinery, Brussels / Belgium
1989 Agrana-Beteiligungs-AG, Vienna / Austria
1990 Acquisition of the East German sugar factories from the Treuhandanstalt
1995 Schöller-Holding (was sold on to the Swiss food company Nestlé in 2001)
1996 Freiberger Lebensmittel GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin (producer of ready-made pizzas and pasta), majority shareholding
2001 Saint Louis Sucre Paris / France (second largest sugar producer in France)

The acquisition of individual sugar factories in Europe since 1996, especially in France and Poland, has made Südzucker by far the largest sugar producer in Europe. In 2005, 5.2 million tonnes of sugar were produced (this corresponds to a share of the EU-25 sugar production of 21.8%).

In February 2014 the company - together with the rival companies Nordzucker and Pfeifer & Langen - was imposed a joint fine of 280 million euros by the Federal Cartel Office for alleged anti-competitive agreements.

Group segments[]

Sugar segment[]

The company has 30 sugar factories and three refineries in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina

Beet sugar factory in Brottewitz (Germany) of Südzucker AG

Special Products segment[]

BENEO-Palatinit GmbH, Mannheim
GmbH & Co KG, Berlin
PrimAS Tiefkühlprodukte GmbH, Oberhofen im Inntal, Austria
Stateside Foods Ltd., Westhoughton, United Kingdom

CropEnergies segment[]

CropEnergies AG,^[3] Mannheim (bioethanol production) operates 4 production sites in Germany (Zeitz), Belgium (Wanze), France (Loon-Plage), and the UK ( Ltd in Wilton). The Zeitz plant is located adjacent to the beet sugar factory.^[4]