Tate & Lyle, the UK-based sugar producer, has announced plans to put all or part of its food and industrial ingredients business up for sale in the wake of recent EU sugar reforms. 

Under the reforms, introduced on July 1st this year, the price of sugar will be cut by 36 per cent over the next four years in order to bring it more into line with world prices. Tate & Lyle's food and industrial ingredients division relies heavily on the sweetener iso-glucose, the price of which is closely related to the price of sugar. 

Earlier this month, Tate & Lyle announced the closure of five of its processing plants in Eastern Europe. The company is increasingly seeking to focus on its value-added ingredients businesses such as Splenda, its sucralose sweetener brand. 

Tate & Lyle's sales in 2006 reached £3.72bn, 19 per cent of which came from the food and industrial ingredients division. Analysts welcomed news of the sale, and believe the division could fetch up to £300m.