Concentration in the Czech and Polish sugar markets

In Central and Eastern Europe countries, the sugar industry has undergone a number of structural changes in the post-communist era, especially after accession into the EU in 2004, which implemented a sugar market reform in 2006 and then ended the sugar quota system in 2017. From a long-term perspective, EU sugar industry is undergoing a rapid development – increasing productivity, rising concentration as well as changes in market and regulated environments. For the Polish and Czech sugar industry, changes in the industry concentration can be identified by analysing the development of beet areas, quotas, beet yields, revenues and profits of the sugar industry players. This helps to better define the position of the sugar industry in the whole value chain in Poland and in the Czech Republic. It was noted that the position of the Czech sugar factories in the value chain has increased significantly. In Poland, market concentration at the level of sugar factories has remained stable.