BUSINESS DAY TV: ‘Drought makes agricultural businesses more cautious’
Peter Staude is the CEO of Tongaat Hulett. BUSINESS DAY TV: A big increase in international sugar prices has offset lower land conversions at Tongaat Hulett, leaving profit at the sugar and starch producer 4% higher in the six months to September. So with the drought starting to abate, what are the prospects for the second half? CEO Peter Staude joins us on the line now. Peter ... so as you say in the commentary today international sugar prices up by 50% over the period. You’ve also seen the weather starting to improve here, which should be good for your yields in the second half, and I suppose this is the benefit of having this multipronged strategy where when land conversions aren’t as high you can benefit from other sides of the business. PETER STAUDE: It always makes you a lot more resilient as a business when you have a portfolio that you are working from. Clearly in our sugar business our volumes have been really down, essentially for this season we’re talking about only produ...
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