STRONG RESULTS Results Market conditions Financial overview Financial highlights ESG overview 16 DLG ANNUAL REPORT 2023 MARKET CONDITIONS STABILISATION OF RAW MATERIAL PRICES After a couple of years of sharp price increases due to supply challenges and the war in Ukraine, prices of crops, raw materials, energy and other commodities stabilised during 2023, following significant declines for several commodity groups at the beginning of the year. The group’s raw material policies are focused on security of delivery without assuming excessive price risks. Declining prices in the beginning of the year reduced earnings in some areas compared to a normal year, but the declining prices were addressed without resulting in large losses. At the end of 2023, the price level for crops was on a par with the beginning of 2021. In the energy business, the first half of 2023 was positively impacted by earnings stemming from the energy crisis in 2022, followed by a more normal second half. Sanctions on Russian energy had been implemented at the beginning of 2023. The war in Israel has not yet had a significant impact on the energy market, as there has been a balance between the supply and demand of energy products. Natural gas and oil prices have largely returned to 2021 levels before the energy crisis, and the group has markedly reduced its energy costs compared to 2022. WEATHER CONDITIONS 2023 saw challenging weather conditions for agriculture, as the year was the wettest year on record despite a long period of drought in spring and early summer, followed by heavy rainfall during the summer and autumn. The weather conditions made it difficult and costly to bring in the harvest, on top of which the harvest yield in Northern Europe was about 20-25 % lower than in a normal year. Storm surges in October posed additional challenges, resulting in widespread flooding and devastation. In addition to weather conditions in Northern Europe, feed and raw material activities were affected by unusual global weather
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