Ukraine, which plans to increase this year`s white beet sugar output by around a third, has produced 319,000 tonnes so far of a planned 2 million tonnes, Ukrainian sugar producers` union Ukrtsukor said on Thursday, Brecorder reports.
Sugar refineries have processed a total of 2.3 million tonnes of sugar beet, Ukrtsukor said in a statement, according to Brecorder.
Ukraine, used to produce around 5 million tonnes of white beet sugar in Soviet times, has cut production sharply due to a lack of export markets because beet sugar cannot compete with cheaper sugar produced from cane. Ukraine consumes about 1.6 million tonnes of sugar annually and produced 1.43 million tonnes of the commodity in 2015. High stocks of around 560,000 tonnes compensated a smaller production. The exports could rise to 250,000 tonnes in the 2015/16 season from 110,000 tonnes a season earlier.
Ukrtsukor has said the market of the European Union is one of the most interesting destinations for Ukrainian producers but the duty free quota, which allocated in line with free trade agreement with the EU, is too small – 20,000 tonnes only. The union has said it appealed to increase the quota to around 300,000 tonnes because Ukraine is able to export around 500,000 tonnes of the commodity.
