Ukrainian exports hinder French sugar sector

The Dutch sugar giant warns of leaf mold, including cercospora. Cosun reported before the weekend that leaf mold would be prevalent in various areas in the Netherlands and that it must be controlled to prevent damage to sugar beets.

The sugar prices in London and New York experienced a period of decline from the beginning of July. In recent days, the decline may have been supported by reports from the Brazilian sugar association Unica about good production in the country that is the largest sugar producer in the world. Sugar prices fell further over the weekend to $547,60 per tonne in London, and $423,29 per tonne in New York. After the weekend, the quotations showed a strong increase again, so that the quotation in London starts the week at $571,60 per tonne and New York at $435,63 per tonne.

French exports under pressure
French sugar exports to Europe are expected to decline in the current 2023/24 market year ending in September. This was reported by the French agricultural ministry Agreste. This is partly caused by increased exports from Ukraine, which compete with French exports. French beet sugar production is expected to increase by 7% compared to last year (4,12 million tons) to 4,4 million tons. But that does not benefit the French export market.

Ukraine exported 475.000 tons of sugar to Europe from October 2023 to June 24, 2024. Ukraine's sugar exports could decrease significantly in the coming months due to new trade rules with the EU with which it wants to prevent the European market from becoming too unbalanced. The total import tariff-free volume of sugar has already been reached.

Brazilian production remains above the level of the previous season
In the second week of June, Unica reported a volume of 48,8 million tons of processed sugar cane. That is 13% more than the same period last year. A total of 1 million tonnes of sugar cane have been processed since the start of the season on April 238,4, 13,3% above last year's level. The Brazilian season has started relatively strong and that is boosting production figures. This always concerns the central-southern region, the most important production region in the country. So far, the harvest has only been lower than last year in the second half of May.

Sugar production in the second half of June is 20,1% higher than last year, at 3,2 million tons. Sugar production from the start of the season is 15,7% higher compared to the same period last year. The share of sugar cane that is processed into sugar is also higher. Since the start of the season, 48,7% has been processed into sugar, more than the 47,7% in the same period last year. Processors can generally adjust the ratio of processing to sugar or ethanol depending on market conditions.