Astarta wraps 2009 harvest campaign

Astarta (AST PW) announced on Friday in a press release that it completed its 2009 harvest campaign. The company culled 1.53 mln mt of sugar beet and 153 ths mt of corn, sunflower and soybeans. Astarta achieved an average yield of 7.4 mt/ha for corn, 2.7 mt/ha for sunflower and 1.6 mt/ha for soybeans. As of December 3, Astarta plants processed over 1.36 mln mt of sugar beet and produced over 200 ths mt of sugar; the plants are expected to complete operation for the year in late December.