In 2000 the sugar refinery closed after 146 years. Slovakia's sugar industry was shrinking into a handful of large plants and the one in Šurany was not among the survivors; the town lost the industry that had defined it since 1854, and has been rebuilding its economy out of food processing, engineering and haulage ever since. About 9,000 people live here now. The old oxbows of the Nitra and the wetlands around them, which once made the castle defensible, are today the reason birdwatchers come.Roku 2000 sa cukrovar po 146 rokoch zavrel. Slovenský cukrovarnícky priemysel sa vtedy zmršťoval do hŕstky veľkých závodov a šuriansky medzi ne nepatril; mesto stratilo odvetvie, ktoré ho určovalo od roku 1854, a odvtedy si hospodárstvo skladá nanovo z potravinárstva, strojárstva a dopravy. Žije tu dnes okolo 9 000 ľudí. Staré ramená Nitry a mokrade okolo nich, vďaka ktorým sa kedysi dal hrad brániť, sú dnes dôvodom, prečo sem chodia pozorovatelia vtákov.
