IKAR in Mass and Industry Media

Russian Raw Sugar Refining Will Halt

Bloomberg

April 14 (Bloomberg) -- Russian sugar plants will stop refining imported raw supplies from April 16 until at least May 5 as they await the introduction of a lower import tariff, the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies said.

Stockpiles in the country and supplies in transit won't be taken through customs until May 4 at the earliest, following a public holiday on May 3, Evgeny Ivanov, a sugar analyst at the institute, which is also known as IKAR, said by phone today. The first sugar from these supplies may be refined no sooner than May 5, he said.

Under their customs-union agreement Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus tax inbound shipments of raw sugar at between $50 and $250 a metric ton from May through August, a period during which refineries rely on imported supplies. The tax is between $140 and $270 during the rest of the year, depending on the sweetener's price in New York trading.

Russia proposed last month to calculate the tariff using monthly rather than quarterly data. The commission that supervises the customs union may adopt the proposal at its next meeting on April 16, Andrei Bodin, head of the Russian Sugar Producers' Union, said last month. Should the new method be applied as early as May, the tariff would be $120 rather than $50 a ton.

The chances of that happening are "minimal" though, IKAR's Ivanov said. Changes in import duties normally take effect 30 days after a decision, according to customs-union procedures.

Ivanov said that 350,764 tons of raw sugar destined for Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States are either in transit or await loading.

16.04.10

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