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Climate-friendly transport: AGRANA cuts 50,000 truck journeys by focusing on rail transport in its sugar beet campaign

1.25 million tons of beets are delivered by rail to sugar production sites in Leopoldsdorf and Tulln

Date: 07.12.2020

AGRANA once again opts for the most environmentally friendly transport of raw materials in its current sugar beet campaign.

“For many years, we have been transporting sugar beet as far as possible by rail, using our proven partnership with ÖBB Rail Cargo Group to support climate-friendly, sustainable transport development,” says AGRANA CEO Johann Marihart.

This year alone, 1.25 million tons or 58% of Austrian sugar beets will be delivered by freight wagons to the two sugar production sites in Leopoldsdorf and Tulln. The rail share of the total transport volume has increased by around 10% over the previous year. The annual ecological effect of this transport volume is also significant. This is because sugar beets transported by rail save around 50,000 truck journeys and therefore avoid 8,150 metric tons of emissions (CO2 equivalents) compared to truck transports.

In terms of transport kilometers covered in Austria, the rail share is as high as 80% this year. “This makes us the leader in Europe in this area. In Germany, for example, there is no longer any rail transport of sugar beets,” says Marihart.

This year, AGRANA is processing around 2.1 million tons of domestic sugar beets in its two sugar factories in Leopoldsdorf and Tulln. With an average daily processing volume of around 24,000 tons of sugar beets, the campaign will be completed by mid-January.

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