Workers unsure of future for sugar plant
Workers, beet growers, hauliers, contractors and the community - where the Greencore Sugar plant has been one of the economic foundations for over 70 years - are unsure if there will be another campaign.
Hopes remain there will be at least one further year in beet growing and sugar processing, but signals in the past week have led to increased concern about the industry’s future.
Mallow sugar factory plays a key role in the local community, whose economy has suffered from a downturn in the dairy industry.
Nearly 200 full-time and seasonal workers processed 1.3 million tonnes of beet from Ireland’s 3,700 growers to produce the country’s entire 199,000-tonne sugar quota during the campaign now ending.
The crop was worth €75m to growers. Overall, the industry generates €140m for the Irish economy. Some e8m is injected into the Mallow area alone in wages each year.
For the first time, the country’s entire sugar quota this year was processed at the Mallow plant, which was given a €20m upgrade following the closure of Carlow factory last March.
A total of 39,400 individual loads of beet were transported to the Mallow factory during the 136-day round the clock campaign which, on the busiest days, involved deliveries by 400 trucks and seven trains. Some 79% of the beet was transported by road and 21% by rail from a depot in Co Wexford.
As preparations were made for the final beet deliveries of the campaign, an air of anxiety prevailed, following decisions by the European Union to reform the sugar sector.
However, Mallow Development Partnership, a co-ordinating body for economic, social and other interests in the area, said it believed the Government, Greencore Sugar and the beet growers can ensure continued production on a viably economic basis if they have the will to do so.
Chairman John McDonnell said while there are serious obstacles to be overcome a number of positives are emerging. World sugar prices are at an all-time high and are rising, primarily due to the demand for ethanol in energy production.
“No one can predict with any certainty what other developments may occur in this and other aspects of the sugar market. It is crucial, therefore, that Greencore Sugar is kept alive and be in a position to exploit any potential changes,” he said.
Greencore Sugar’s chief executive Dr Sean Brady has warned of significant risks for the company in processing a 2006 crop as a result of the EU reforms and increased competition.
Even with an efficient processing facility and a secure competitively priced beet supply, the commercial viability of sugar beet processing in this country in 2006 is in question, he said.
Beet growers are meanwhile demanding an immediate decision from Agriculture and Food Minister Mary Coughlan on compensation following the EU reforms, and from Greencore Sugar on the price they are prepared to pay for beet.
Peadar Jordan, chairman of the IFA sugar beet committee, said his main priority is to ensure the €145m buy-out compensation fund is directed to beet growers and not given to Greencore.
The EU sugar reform means a 39.5% beet price cut and has failed to secure a future for the industry in Ireland. Growers’ livelihoods have been decimated and now they have no option but to get full compensation for their loss, he said.
A delegation from the IFA beet growers committee is to meet with Ms Coughlan in Dublin tomorrow and immediately afterwards with Greencore chief executive David Dilger.
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