Russia will produce less sugar in 2017/18 than it has this year. IKAR estimates that sugar production will amount to 5,8 million tons, while current production is estimated at 6,09 million tons; the highest volume ever.
That claim is attributed to an expected decrease in acreage. In 2017, 4,5 percent fewer beets will be sown; that equates to an area of 1,06 million hectares. Farmers in the more export-oriented south of the country are said to be more interested in crops such as oilseeds and pulses. According to the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR), it is important that the country makes extra efforts to keep the decline below 6 percent.
With a view to the disappearance of the sugar quota in the EU in 2017, this seems to have a positive effect for Europe, were it not for the fact that in other CIS countries there is an increased activity in sugar.
For example, neighboring Ukraine is pushing hard on the export of white sugar. In 2016, Ukrainians exported four times more than in 2015. The total sugar beet harvest at 13.2 million tons last year was 2.8 million tons higher than in 2015.
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