EU tensions over Ukraine's agricultural imports spread to sugar market - Bloomberg
Kyiv • UNN
French sugar beet producers want Ukraine's sugar imports, which could potentially reach 800,000 tons, to be re-exported outside the EU to avoid damaging local markets. Ukraine's exports are set to double from the previous season and significantly exceed the five-year average, Bloomberg notes.
French sugar beet entrepreneurs demand that Ukraine's growing sugar imports be re-exported outside Europe to avoid harming local producers, UNN reports citing Bloomberg.
Details
Ukrainian sugar imports to the bloc could reach 700-800 thousand tons in the 2023-2024 season, the CGB business group said on Tuesday. According to the European Commission, this would be about twice as much as imports in the previous season and significantly higher than the average of 21,500 tons in the five years before. Earlier, Ukraine said it would limit sugar exports to 650 thousand tons in all directions this season.
"We need a clear answer from the European Commission on the future management of this sugar inflow," the CGB said in its presentation.
Addendum
The sugar producers' demands follow similar tensions over Ukraine's sharp rise in grain exports, which prompted several Eastern European countries to ban purchases on the grounds that the shipments were driving down local prices, the newspaper said. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has disrupted its Black Sea ports, forcing grain producers to rely more on rail, road and river routes through neighboring countries.
Despite the increase in sugar imports from Ukraine, sugar prices to the EU remain high amid a global shortage of the sweetener. According to the EU, domestic prices for white sugar are over 800 euros (878 USD) per ton, the highest level in the last ten years.
