Russia keeps November sugar import duty at $140/tonnes

The world's top sugar buyer, Russia, will keep its raw cane sugar import tariff at $140 per tonne in November, unchanged from October, the Economy Ministry said on Monday.
Under the tariff calculation scheme adopted for this year, Russia sets the rate each month. The rate is pegged to average New York futures price for the three preceding months.
Russian raw sugar imports rose 46 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of 2005 to 2.45 million tonnes.
Some analysts believe imports in the full year of 2005 may exceed 3 million tonnes.
Last year imports fell sharply to 2.6 million tonnes from 4.1 million in 2003 following the introduction of a floating import tariff instead of a tariff quota. Imports started rising this year after the tariff had been adjusted.