IN BRIEF (Page 16)

'Difficult' market

Tate & Lyle Plc, the maker of the biggest selling US no-calorie sweetener, said the European sugar market is still "very difficult" and its US ingredients business will incur additional costs.

Improved returns from by-products at the US unit were partially offset by higher costs as new technology was commissioned at a mill in Loudon, Tennessee, the company said yesterday in a statement. The unit, which sells corn by-products used in animal feeds, accounted for 60 percent of operating profit last year.