Harvest Report 2012
Alpcot Agro AB (“the Company”), the owner and operator of farmland with agricultural operations in Russia and Ukraine, reports its harvest for 2012 and winter planting for harvest in 2013.
Highlights
- Total harvested area up 35% on 2011 at 123,300 hectares
- Particularly strong results for sunflower, corn and rapeseed
- 2012 Winter planting campaign of 61,000 hectares, comprising of rapeseed, wheat and barley
- Focus for 2013 on maximising planting of the Company’s most profitable crops
- Continuing to take advantage of strong pricing environment
Jens Peter Aabyen, Managing Director of Alpcot Agro, commented,
“This strong harvest result is a considerable achievement following our substantial acquisition in Ukraine in the beginning of the year. We significantly expanded our cropped area while maintaining good yields and benefiting from the positive weather conditions.”
“We will continue to focus on improving operational efficiency and are well positioned to benefit from the current high crop prices.”
Harvest 2012
The Company´s areas of operation were not particularly affected by the adverse weather which impacted parts of Central and Eastern Europe in the summer of 2012. The drought in North America contributed to the continued upward trend in world market prices for the Company’s commodities. The harvest season overall saw good weather conditions, with a hot summer and a mild autumn.
The Company has to date harvested a gross total of 392,400 tonnes of crops, an increase of 40 percent compared to 2011 (279,800 tonnes gross), with a minor part of the corn still remaining to harvest. At current prices and yields, the Company’s most profitable crops are sunflower, corn and rapeseed.
In Russia, the sunflower harvest delivered an average net yield of 2.0 tonnes/ha. To date, average selling prices have been SEK 2,926 (USD 438) per tonne, delivering an average revenue of SEK 5,852 (USD 876) per ha of sunflower.
In Ukraine, the corn harvest delivered an average net yield of 7.2 tonnes/ha and the rapeseed harvest 2.2 tonnes/ha net. Achieved sales prices have been strong, averaging SEK 3,727 (USD 558) for rapeseed and SEK 1,403 (USD 210) for corn delivering average revenues of SEK 8,200 (USD 1,228) per ha and SEK 10,100 (USD 1,512) per ha respectively. There were significant differences in yield on the fields that were planted by Alpcot Agro and on those planted by Landkom in the autumn of 2011. The Company therefore expects to be able to bring considerable yield improvements across the Ukraine business going forward.
A full cost and revenue analysis of the different crops will be provided with the year-end report in March 2013.
The table below shows the harvested yields achieved in the 2012 harvest. Net yields are estimates.
Harvest 2012, split by crop and by region
| Harvested area, ha | Gross harvest, tonnes | Gross Yield tonne/ha | Estimated Net Yield/ha | |
| Total for Group | 123,300 | 392,400 | 3.2 | |
| Ukraine | ||||
| Crop | Harvested area, ha | Gross harvest, tonnes | Gross Yield tonne/ha | Estimated Net Yield/ha |
| Winter rape | 19,100 | 45,600 | 2.4 | 2.2 |
| Winter wheat | 13,400 | 51,600 | 3.9 | 3.7 |
| Winter barley | 2,200 | 7,600 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
| Corn | 9,800 | 82,200 | 8.4 | 7.2 |
| Sunflower | 4,200 | 8,300 | 2.0 | 1.9 |
| Soya | 1,200 | 2,000 | 1.7 | 1.6 |
| Buckwheat | 3,100 | 3,500 | 1.1 | 1.0 |
| Other | 600 | 1,600 | 2.6 | - |
| Total Ukraine | 53,600 | 202,400 | 3.8 | |
| Russia Central Black Soil Region | ||||
| Crop | Harvested area, ha | Gross harvest, tonnes | Gross Yield tonne/ha | Estimated Net Yield/ha |
| Winter wheat | 28,200 | 73,100 | 2.7 | 2.5 |
| Sunflower | 12,800 | 27,200 | 2.1 | 2.0 |
| Sugar beet | 800 | 34,000 | 41.5 | 36.8 |
| Spring barley | 6,500 | 12,300 | 1.9 | 1.8 |
| Corn | 1,600 | 8,800 | 5.4 | 4.6 |
| Soybean | 5,600 | 6,000 | 1.1 | 1.0 |
| Spring rape | 2,300 | 3,700 | 1.6 | 1.5 |
| Buckwheat | 1,800 | 1,200 | 0.7 | 0.6 |
| Other | 1,400 | 1,600 | 1.4 | - |
| Total Russia CBS | 61,000 | 167,900 | 2.8 | |
| Kaliningrad | ||||
| Crop | Harvested area, ha | Gross harvest, tonnes | Gross Yield tonne/ha | Estimated Net Yield/ha |
| Winter Wheat | 1,700 | 7,300 | 4.2 | 3.7 |
| Winter Rape | 1,400 | 2,800 | 2.0 | 1.8 |
| Spring Barley | 2,000 | 6,200 | 3.2 | 3.0 |
| Spring Rape | 1,700 | 2,000 | 1.2 | 1.1 |
| Spring Wheat | 700 | 1,700 | 2.4 | 2.2 |
| Other | 1,200 | 2,100 | 1.8 | - |
| Total Kaliningrad | 8,700 | 22,100 | 2.6 |
Less than 3,000 hectares of corn remain to be harvested across Russia and Ukraine. The Company expects to have completed the harvest of this area by the end of year. These fields are not included in the table above.
Sales and Inventory
The Company has been taking advantage of the current attractive pricing situation. At the end of November 2012, approximately 75 per cent of expected value of the 2012 harvested crops had been sold with the remainder to be sold by the end of Q1 2013. Remaining crops include corn, sunflower and wheat.
Winter planting 2012
The Company has planted 61,000 ha in its winter planting campaign as set out in the below table. The crops are in good condition and have established well. Weather conditions for all autumn planting across Russia and Ukraine have been satisfactory.
| Winter planted area, ha | Winter wheat | Winter rape | Winter barley | Total |
| Ukraine | 14,000 | 13,800 | 4,800 | 32,600 |
| Russia CBS | 24,400 | - | - | 24,400 |
| Kaliningrad | 2,000 | 2,000 | - | 4,000 |
| Total | 40,400 | 15,800 | 4,800 | 61,000 |
Stockholm, 10 December 2012
For additional comments, please contact
| Jens Peter Aabyen, Managing Director | +7 903 779 2336 |
| Stephen Pickup, Group CFO | +44 782 529 4352 |
About Alpcot Agro AB (publ)
Alpcot Agro is a Swedish limited liability company incorporated in 2006. The Company's business idea is to generate an attractive return on invested capital by optimally utilizing the Company’s agricultural land bank through crop and livestock production and other related operations in Russia and Ukraine. The shares in Alpcot Agro are listed on First North under the ticker ALPA and the Company’s Certified Adviser is Remium Nordic AB. Additional information is available on www.alpcotagro.com.