It is reported by Nasdaq.

Tereos, the world's second largest sugar producer by volume, said earlier this year it was consulting with unions at its Ludus factory in Romania about shutting it down.

The plant, which in 2020 had around 180 employees and is one of Romania's two last-remaining sugar processing plants, has been loss making amid a steady reduction in the amount of land planted with sugar in the country.

Sugar processed from home-grown beet accounts for roughly a quarter of the European Union state's consumption of half a million tonnes per year.

«It would be a shame for a perfectly functional factory to be disassembled and sold for scrap parts, — Agriculture Minister Adrian Chesnoiu told reporters. — We want to stimulate domestic production and to not depend on a single producer, so ... we will do everything we can to keep the factory open».

A Tereos spokesperson said: "A few weeks ago the minister contacted us and said the factory could be nationalised," adding the company had not heard from him since. "They have launched the idea but we are still waiting for the actual project."

Keeping the plant in production would support local beet farmers and the factory's staff, as well as maintain a degree of competition in Romania's domestic market, Chesnoiu added.