REUTERS
Ukrainian sugar refineries have processed 6.37 million tonnes of sugar beets and produced 874,300 tonnes of sugar since the launch of the current sugar production season on August 30, according to the Ukrtsukor sugar producers' association.
As reported, 40 sugar refineries out of the planned 46 have been operating in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian agrarians harvested 9.3 million tonnes of sugar beets from an area of 318,000 hectares as of October 25, which accounted for 67% of the total area of the crop sowing this year. The yield is estimated at 43.5 tonnes per hectare this year against 46.8 tonnes per hectare in 2016, according to the Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry.
The Ukrtsukor said earlier that due to unfavorable weather conditions that influenced the development of sugar beets, this year's sugar beet harvesting campaign was slower than the one in the previous year.
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The Ukrainian enterprises over the past season of sugar refining, which started on August 20, 2016, and ended on January 11, 2017, processed 13.7 million tonnes of sugar beets, having produced 2.01 million tonnes of sugar, while demand on the Ukrainian market in 2017 was estimated at 1.54 million tonnes.
In 2016, the output of raw sugar materials increased by 30% against 2015, while sugar production rose by 40%.