Austria’s Agrana will refine 780,000 tonnes of sugar beat this year at its sugar refinery in Kaposvar — the last operating refinery in Hungary — up from 438,000 tonnes in 2008, head of production at the refinery Laszlo Hajos told MTI on Tuesday.
The refinery will turn out at least 105,000 tonnes of sugar this year, or enough to meet about one-third of demand.
Agrana spent HUF 500m to renovate the plant before this year’s refining campaign, which will last 110 days. The refinery will hire more than 90 temporary staff in addition to its 170 employees during the period, Mr Hajos said.
Almost all of Hungary’s sugar refineries were shut down after the 2007 season, when the EU slashed sugar price subsidies and offered farmers and refineries incentives to get out of the business.