IKAR in Mass and Industry Media

Russia May Have to Import Sugar to Meet Demand, Ikar Says

Bloomberg

Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Russia may have to import raw sugar in the current crop year after mills were unable to process enough beets from a record harvest to meet local demand, according to the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies.

Russia may have to buy about 550,000 metric tons of raw sweetener by the year’s end on July 31, according to data from the Moscow-based institute, known as Ikar. No shipments have taken place so far in the period, the figures show. Reserves of 3.3 million tons may be too low to meet domestic demand, according to Evgeny Ivanov, senior sugar analyst at Ikar.

“It is a paradox, because we have record sugar output and we have to import sugar,” he said by phone from Moscow.

“Russia may have a sugar shortage on the eve of the new marketing year” without imports, he said.

Domestic consumption may come to 1.1 million tons in the current quarter and 1.3 million tons in the following three months, Ivanov said. The bulk of any raw-sugar imports probably will occur between the middle of April and early July, he said.

Russian imports of raw sugar may be lower than 1 million tons for the first time ever in 2012 because of surging domestic production, Ikar said last month.

24.01.12

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