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Since the start of 2026, several sugar factories across Europe have announced they are halting production: sugar prices have fallen so low they no longer cover costs. Czechia’s largest sugar group, Tereos TTD, has sharply cut investment this year, and its head, Martin Kolář, warns that if prices don’t rise, the wave of closures will continue.
According to Kolář, 23 factories have already closed across Europe since sugar quotas were abolished in 2017 — a fifth of the continent’s total production capacity. Czechia remains a major sugar exporter, and Tereos TTD accounts for more than half of the country’s domestic output.
After this season wrapped up in early February, a factory in Trenčianske Teplé, Slovakia, owned by the Nordzucker group, shut down production for good. The company cited difficult market conditions and a long-term decline in the profitability of beet-sugar production.
According to the European Commission, the wholesale price of sugar fell from €844 to €510 per tonne over two years (figures as of March 2026). The market is being weighed down by large stockpiles built up after bumper harvests and by falling sugar consumption in Europe, as people shift to healthier diets. Nordzucker will also close its Danish factory in Nakskov in early 2027, stop refining raw sugar at its Finnish plant in Porkkala, and shut down its factory in Cantley, Britain.
After the closure last year of the factory in Hrušovany nad Jevišovkou (part of the Agrana group), Czechia is left with six sugar factories. Financial reports show the problems facing this energy-intensive industry are deepening this year: gas, a key production input, is getting more expensive, and so is sugar beet, due to a weaker harvest. The Vrbátky factory in the Prostějov district posted a loss of 22.6 million crowns last year.
According to Kolář, low prices affect not just the wholesale market but retail chains too: “Today sugar is being sold on promotion at 1995 price levels,” he says. He considers it unfair competition that European producers have to compete with imports from countries where farmers and industry don’t face the same requirements as EU businesses.
More details: https://aroundprague.cz/en/news/economy/europes-sugar-factories-are-closing-one-after-another-czech-industry-leader