IKAR in Mass and Industry Media

Russia's sugar market faces surplus in 2016

Reuters

MOSCOW - Russia's domestic sugar market faces a surplus if its farmersincrease sugar beet sowing area in 2016, Andrey Bodin, the head of the country's Sugar Producers' Union, told a conference on Thursday (Institutional partner of the conference – IKAR).

Russia has been increasing domestic sugar production in recent years as it aims to become self-sufficient instead of being a major global importer.

"If our farmers sow more, then we may have an overproduction on our market," Bodin said.

He reckons CIS countries could reduce their raw and white sugar imports by 17 percent to 1.6 million metric tons of raw sugar and 355,000 metric tons of white sugar in 2016 as raw sugar demand is expected to fall in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan.

He did not give an estimate for the 2016/17 marketing season, which starts on Oct. 1.

The CIS, Moscow-dominated grouping of a number of former Soviet countries, is forecast to produce 7.9 million metric tons of beet sugar in 2016, up 9 percent on last year, Bodin said.

Production in Russia is expected to increase to 5.5 million metric tons from 5.2 million. Ukraine is expected to raise output to 1.7 million metric tons from 1.5 million, while Belarus's production is expected to rise to 550,000 metric tons from 490,000 metric tons.

Bodin also said that the CIS countries were expected to increase their sugar beet sowing area in 2016 by 9 percent to 1.5 million hectares, with Russia sowing 1.1 million hectares, compared with 1.0 million hectares a year ago.

17.03.16

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