Mannheim, 14 July 2015 - CropEnergies AG, Mannheim, welcomed approximately 600 shareholders and guests to its annual general meeting in the Congress Center Rosengarten in Mannheim on 14 July 2015. Dr. Wolfgang Heer was elected as a new member of the supervisory board of the company. All other agenda items were also approved by shareholders with a majority of over 99 percent. Overall, 82.83 percent of the share capital was represented.
The shareholders at the annual general meeting were particularly interested in the developments in the company, such as the commissioning of the neutral alcohol plant in Zeitz, Germany, at the beginning of the year and the temporary production pause in the UK. Also of great interest were the political framework for bioethanol in the EU and the price development in the European bioethanol market.
After the legal framework for biofuels had been discussed since October 2012 on a EU level, a compromise between European Parliament and European Council was finally reached in April 2015. This is the prerequisite for more reliability and a more stable framework for the industry. By 2020, 10 percent of the energy in the transport sector of the EU have to be renewable. As much as 7 percent may come from conventional biofuels such as bioethanol from grains and sugar beets. The member states have 2 years to implement this directive. CropEnergies expects this to lead to a significant market growth in the mid-term.
CropEnergies advocates creating a reliable framework for post-2020 since bioethanol is the only way to inexpensively and comprehensively replace petrol and reduce greenhouse gas emissions which is available today.
Ensuring mobility in a climate friendly way - today and in the future - is CropEnergies' business. Founded in Mannheim, Germany, in 2006, the young and dynamically growing member of the Südzucker Group is one of the leading European manufacturers of sustainably produced bioethanol for the fuel sector today. With its production capacities of 1.2 million cubic meters of bioethanol per year, CropEnergies produces bioethanol which predominantly replaces petrol in four modern production facilities in Germany, Belgium, the UK, and France. The highly efficient production facilities reduce CO2 emissions by up to 70 percent across the whole value-added chain compared to fossil fuel. With the production sites, the unique logistics network in Europe as well as trading offices in the USA and Brazil, CropEnergies is one of the leading companies in a major emerging market.
At the same time, CropEnergies is an important producer of food and animal feed products. The raw materials which are used such as cereals and sugar beets are completely utilized. As a result, more than 1 million tonnes of high-quality protein food and animal feed products are manufactured every year out of the non-fermentable components of the raw materials.
Through advanced technology and innovation CropEnergies contributes to ensure a sustainable mobility from renewable sources today and in the future through its main product bioethanol: mobility - sustainable. renewable.
The CropEnergies AG stock (ISIN DE000AOLAUP1) has been listed at the regulated market (Prime Standard) at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 2006.