Tate & Lyle to raise prices further amid Ukraine conflict

Ingredients giant Tate & Lyle indicated prices on its products would be rising on Friday, as it faced mounting cost pressures as a result of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The FTSE 250 company said the conflict was causing a “significant escalation” in raw material prices, including corn, as well as energy and logistics costs.

It said it had committed agreements in place for key production inputs, such as corn and energy, for most of the first half of 2022.

On 11 February, before Russian troops entered Ukraine, it said it was renewing customer contracts for the 2022 calendar year to offset expected inflation.

“Input markets remain volatile and we will continue to take actions to mitigate additional inflationary pressures, including supplementary price increases across our main markets,” the company said in its statement.

“Our focus is on maintaining continuity of supply and serving our customers.”

The statement was published at the bottom of a news release that announced the completion of its sale of a controlling stake in its American primary products business.

Despite the cost pressures and price rises, Tate & Lyle said elsewhere in the release that it still intended to return £500m to shareholders through a special dividend.

Tate & Lyle said it would provide a further update with its results for the year ended 31 March on 9 June.

At 1614 BST, shares in Tate & Lyle were down 0.52% at 728.4p.