Ukrtsukor revises downward sugar production forecast for 2018-2019 MY

Experts from the National Association of Sugar Producers of Ukraine (NASU) "Ukrtsukor" have revised downward the forecast for sugar production in the 2018-2019 marketing year (MY, September 2018-August 2019) from 2 million tonnes to 1.7 million tonnes due to the low sugar content of beets.

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"Despite a record high yield, sugar content is one of the lowest this year. So, the forecast for sugar production had to be reviewed downward. According to Ukrtsukor, 13.8 million tonnes of sugar beets are expected to be produced this season, while sugar output may be 1.7-1.75 million tonnes," the Association's press service quoted NASU's commodity markets analyst Vasyl Dolinsky as saying on November 19.

According to the expert, the average yield of sugar beets this year is about 49 tonnes per hectare, which is a record high indicator. The highest yield of sugar beets was reported in Lviv, Vinnytsia and Kyiv regions, while the lowest one was recorded in Kirovohrad and Kharkiv regions, he added.

"There were good conditions for harvesting this season, as the warm and dry autumn made it easier for farmers to dig and transport the root crops from the fields. It's worth noting that the sugar beets delivered to sugar refineries were rather clean," he added.

The expert says the plan for harvesting sugar beets this marketing year exceeds the previous one by 3%. At the same time, the analyst noted, the sugar beet yield was 140,000 tonnes less than the one recorded on the same day last year.

As UNIAN reported earlier, slightly less than 2 million tonnes of sugar is expected to be produced in the current marketing year (MY, September 2018-August 2019), according to the Association's experts.

Ukrainian enterprises during the sugar refining season of 2017-2018 MY boosted sugar production by 6.5%, to 2.14 million tonnes.