AGRANA Sugar Refineries

AGRANA maintains two production sites in Austria, in Tulln and Leopoldsdorf, as well as a further seven production sites in five Central and Eastern European countries. AGRANA also operates a packaging and distribution centre in Bulgaria. At the factories in Tulln and Leopoldsdorf the AGRANA Zucker GmbH, the only producer of sugar in Austria, produces a wide range of sugar products for the processing industry and under the brand “Wiener Zucker” for the end consumer. The distribution of the products is carried out by AGRANA Sales & Marketing GmbH.

 

Locations

In addition to its two locations in Austria, AGRANA is also present in the sugar sector with 9 production sites in five EU countries and in Bosnia-Herzegovina since mid-2008. In addition, AGRANA markets sugar and starch products in Bulgaria. In the AGRANA Group, approximately 650.000 tonnes of beet sugar were produced in the campaign 2020| 21 from around 4,8 million tonnes of beet. AGRANA offers a wide range of sugar and sugar special products under country-specific sugar markers.

AGRANA in Austria

Tulln an der Donau
The sugar refinery in Tulln was opened in 1937. The site in Tulln is nowadays home to the administration department of AGRANA Zucker GmbH as well as the central sugar storage facility in which all of the products obtainable under the Wiener Zucker brand in Austria are manufactured, packaged and fully automatically stored in and shipped from a high-bay warehouse with a capacity of around 8,000 tonnes of sugar. Europe‘s second largest sugar silo, with a storage capacity of around 70,000 tonnes, was commissioned in Tulln in 2011.

In addition, the Austrian beet seed company and the AGRANA Research & Innovation Center are located at the refinery in Tulln.

Leopoldsdorf im Marchfeld
The sugar refinery in Leopoldsdorf, built in 1901|1902, was originally intended for processing raw sugar. It was converted to a white sugar refi nery in 1925. The Leopoldsdorf facility mainly ships sugar in bulk or packaged quantities (big bags or 50 kg bags) to the food processing industry.

Energy efficiency

Due to the use of low-energy drying facilities in Tulln and Leopoldsdorf a reduction of around 60% in terms of energy could be realized. Moreover, the facilities not only reduce odour and dust emissions but also reduce the burden of CO2 emissions on environment (since the introduction in the year 2012 around 95.000 tons CO2 could be reduced). The project was awarded with the ‘Climate Protection Award’ by the Austrian Ministry of Environment.

BetaPura

In Tulln, a molasses desugarization plant, in which the protein-rich fraction betaine is extracted from the molasses, is in operation. Since 2020, this liquid betaine is be further purified by crystallization. As part of a joint venture with the American sugar producer The Amalgamated Sugar Company, AGRANA invested around EUR 40 million in this project.

The new plant, which has an annual production capacity of around 8,500 tonnes of crystalline betaine, is the third production site in the world to produce natural, high-quality crystalline betaine. Betaine is used not only in food supplements or sport drinks to promote muscle development, but also in livestock rearing as a component in animal feeds. Due to its osmoregulatory properties at a cellular level, betaine is also used in cosmetic products.

AGRANA refineries in Europe

In KAPOSVÁR, the AGRANA subsidiary Magyar Cukor Zrt. Hungary's only sugar factory. To supply the deficit market in Hungary, raw sugar for white sugar is also refined in Kaposvár. Kaposvár is also one of the largest biogas plants in Europe, which covers 70% of the primary energy requirements of the sugar factory through its own biogas. In the Hungarian food trade, AGRANA is the market leader with the "Koronás Cukor" brand.

Moravskoslezské cukrovary a.s., AGRANA's subsidiary in the Czech Republic, processes a total of 9,400 tonnes of beet for sugar, which is marketed under the brand name "Korunní Cukr", in the two sugar factories in HRUŠOVANY and OPAVA.

In the sugar factory of the Slovak AGRANA subsidiary Slovenské cukrovary s.r.o. In SERED, Slovakia, the last campaign saw the processing of around 4,800 tonnes of beetroots to sugar, which is sold under the "Korunný Cukor" brand on the Slovakian market.

The SC. AGRANA Romania S.A. Operates two sugar factories in Romania, which mainly work as raw sugar refineries. The raw cane sugar produced in emerging countries such as Brazil and Thailand is transported by ship to Romania and processed into white sugar at AGRANA plants. In addition to the raw sugar refining, the ROMAN plant also processes up to 5,400 tonnes of sugar beet per day. The factory in BUZĂU is operated as a pure raw sugar refinery. In Romania, the white sugar produced by AGRANA is sold under the brand Mărgăritar Zahăr ".

The sugar products produced by Studen-AGRANA (joint venture) are marketed under the "AGRAGOLD" brand throughout the West Balkan region as well as in Slovenia and Croatia. The STUDEN-AGRANA raw sugar refinery in BRČKO is a joint venture in which AGRANA and its long-standing sales partner in the Westbalkan region, Studen & CO Holding GmbH, hold 50% each. The factory has a processing capacity of about 650 tonnes of raw sugar per day.

In addition, AGRANA operates a packaging and distribution facility in Bulgaria, where a wide range of products is also offered under the premium brand "Zahira".