OREANDA-NEWS. January 18, 2013. ASTARTA sugar plants successfully concluded the beet processing season, and produced с. 430 thousand tonnes of high quality white sugar (+15% y-o-y). More than 75% of sugar beet for processing was grown in-house. Average sugar extraction ratio was 13.8% which is significantly higher than the Ukrainian industrial average. As the result of modernization and improvements in technology, natural gas consumption per tonne of processed sugar beet was cut by 10%. Same time, the total daily production capacity of ASTARTA plants grew by 10%.

ASTARTA farms harvested over 2,6 million tonnes of sugar beet (+25% y-o-y). Average yield of sugar beet increased c. 10% to 53 tonnes per ha. Some large agricultural farms of ASTARTA delivered yields of sugar beet at 60 tonnes per ha. Grains production was at 600 thousand tonnes. Milk production grew by 20% y-o-y and totaled 84 thousand tonnes. Average annual milk yield per cow increased 12%.

ASTARTA continued development of production assets, logistics and infrastructure facilities. A modern 50-kiloton sugar silo was commissioned in November. A network of facilities for grain storage and processing has been being expanded. A biogas production station is being prepared for commissioning. Likewise the construction of a soybean processing plant is progressing well on schedule.

Comment of Viktor Ivanchyk, CEO, ASTARTA Holding N. V.:

"Year 2012 was anything but simple for Ukrainian agricultural and sugar businesses. Dry weather conditions in summer 2012 negatively influenced crop yields. Situation in domestic sugar market remained subdued. Nonetheless our Company successfully gets through all the challenges. We strengthened ASTARTA's leading position in Ukrainian sugar market, increased our share in sugar production to 19.5%, and expanded sugar and crop exports. Production subsidiaries of the Group are growing in size and efficiency. We started preparation for the 2013 production season and will strive for higher operational results”.