It is reported by Nasdaq.

The cooperative, which has 9,000 members, said it aimed to pay 45 euros ($48.99) per tonne of beets in 2023, up from 40 euros, premium included, paid for the 2022 crop. Prices are based on a sugar content of 16 degrees.

France's policy change came after a European Union court said last week that member states cannot offer exemptions to the bloc's ban on crop seeds treated with neonicotinoid chemicals.

France had been planning to grant a third and final exemption to the ban to cover the 2023 crop. The measure was aimed at protecting crops from a disease that destroyed about 30% of the French sugar beet harvest in 2020, while giving the sector time to develop other effective crop-protection solutions.

"In this context, we are sending a strong signal to our cooperative members in order to support them and encourage them to maintain, or even increase their sugar beet areas," Cristal Union Chairman Olivier de Bohan said in a statement.

Cristal Union, which also makes ethanol, last year promised to pay high prices for the 2023 sugar beet harvest in a bid to secure supplies at a time when the crop is less attractive, confident it could pass higher prices to clients.

Its main competitor, Tereos, uses criteria such as commercial and industrial performance to determine the price it will pay for beets in the next season. Therefore it is too early to give a price outlook for 2023, a spokesperson said.