KTG Agrar now producing agricultural commodities on some 27.400 hectares
Fertiliser and fuel costs clearly down on the year
Hamburg, 20 April 2009 – In the first quarter of 2009 KTG Agrar AG continued to expand its position as a leading agricultural producer in Europe and the company moves forward into the 2009 season with optimism. In the first quarter alone, the total farmland was expanded by 2,400 hectares. KTG Agrar now grows grain, maize and rapeseed on some 27.400 hectares - the equivalent of 37,000 soccer pitches.
The bulk of the new farmland is located in eastern Germany. An approximately 2,200 hectare farm was taken over in Brandenburg; some 500 hectares of this farmland are owned while the rest is farmed under long-term leases. In eastern Germany another 150 hectares were newly leased in order to realise economies of scale in farming operations at existing locations. An additional 100 hectares were acquired in Lithuania during the first three months of the year. By now KTG Agrar grows mainly organic market crops on more than 5,000 hectares in the EU full member state.
KTG Agrar is looking forward to a successful year 2009. CEO Siegfried Hofreiter says: “We enjoy a substantial advantage compared to many other sectors and industries at this time - stable demand for our products. With the world population growing by 200,000 every day, our success is essentially determined by the volume of our harvests, our production costs and our sales prices.” The winter grain and the rapeseed sown in autumn have developed well. The ongoing sowing of maize and sugar beets also goes well, promising a good harvest for 2009. The costs of such essential materials as fertilisers and fuels have come down considerably. KTG Agrar has already secured fuel prices for its requirements in 2009 and expects to save approximately one million euros in this area. The prices of nitrogen fertilisers and urea, in particular, are as much as 75 percent down on their prior year levels. In addition, the company continues to benefit from its integrated biogas production. 2008 was the first full year of biogas plant operation at full capacity. As a result, KTG Agrar now has large quantities of fermentation residues which make for excellent fertilisers and clearly reduce the need to purchase potash and phosphorous fertilisers. In contrast, the prices of agricultural commodities have stabilised, with contracts in the forward markets pointing to rising prices during the course of the year. Says Siegfried Hofreiter: “All the conditions for a high-yield year are in place and we will also continue to grow the size of our farmland.” The company envisages farming more than 30,000 hectares at the beginning of the 2010 season.