IKAR in Mass and Industry Media

Russia sugar lobby may cut output f'cast due drought

Reuters

MOSCOW, July 23 (Reuters) - Russia's main sugar lobby said on Friday it may lower its 2010 sugar beet output forecast to below 4 million tonnes after the drought slowed down the crop's roots development.

The Russian Sugar Producers' Union said the country's third sugar beet test, the season's first for sugar content, showed a rise in the sugar content, higher root weight and larger sowings area. But, it said a daily increase in the root weight in the previous 10 days was smaller than a year ago.

"Taking into account that the root is developing slower than last year and half of the sowings are located in drought-hit area, we believe that output may decline to below 4 million tonnes," Andrei Bodin, the union's chairman, told Reuters.

In June, the union forecast Russia might refine a record 4 million tonnes of sugar from this year's crop compared with 3.2 million tonnes a year ago and above the official target of 3.73 million tonnes.

"It is difficult to say how big the decline will be. Some regions look better, some worse. The situation may become clearer in the middle of August," Bodin said.

The sugar content test showed a level of 12.6 percent, up from 11 percent during the same test a year ago, the union said.

Average root weight rose to 190 grams from 186 grams a year ago. Plantings' density and the area sown with sugar beets this year rose to 86,000 beets per hectare, from 83,000 and the sown area to 1,159,700 hectares from 820,200 hectares.

But a daily increase in the root weight in the previous 10 days was 4.6 grams, down from 6.4 grams a year ago, as drought, which hit 23 Russian regions, slowed down the crop's development.

Analysts at the Institute of Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR) said on Friday they had no forecast as yet based on the latest test results. IKAR's latest beet sugar output forecast was between 3.8 million and 4 million tonnes.

10.09.10

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