The biofuel manufacturer Cropenergies is feeling the cost pressure from rising energy and raw material prices.
In addition, higher ethanol imports into the EU and Great Britain from Brazil and the USA reduced the sales prices for biofuel, the Südzucker subsidiary, which has returned to the small value index SDax, announced on Monday.
The board is therefore putting the capacities to the test.
It is being considered to reduce or even temporarily shut down production from January 2023.
The main focus is on the Ensus plant in Wilton, UK, whose profitability is under pressure due to the increased costs.
It currently has an annual production of 400,000 cubic meters of renewable ethanol, which is mixed with petrol in Germany as E10, 350,000 tons of dried animal feed and up to 250,000 tons of biogenic CO2.
However, the Management Board has retained the targets for the current 2021/22 financial year.
The group is currently still benefiting from having secured itself against rising raw material and energy prices even before the Ukraine war.
Cropenergies therefore raised the forecast for the operating result in June by 60 million to between 165 and 215 million euros.
That would be up to 70 percent more than in the record year 2021/22.
Sales are expected to be around 100 million euros higher than previously assumed at 1.45 to 1.55 (1.08) billion euros.
The news did not go down well with investors.
The course fell back on the first day in the SDax by more than five percent to 14.66 euros.