Irish sugar industry may end, report claims

SUGAR production in Ireland, now consolidated in a single site at Mallow, could be abandoned following radical EU reforms, a study claimed yesterday.

The study for the European Commission was reported to have named Ireland as one of four EU member states where sugar production may be abandoned if the proposed reforms are adopted.

European sugar production may decline 39% by 2012 following a reduction in prices, according to the study. The EU will probably produce 12 million metric tons of sugar after the end of a package of changes to its regime, against 19.7 million tons now. Italy, Ireland, Portugal and Greece will probably have the biggest reductions in their sugar industries.