Russia's beet sugar output up

Russia refined 2.6 million tonnes of white sugar from beet from the start of the season in August to October 31, up 42 percent from year-ago volumes, the Russian Sugar Producers' Union industry lobby said on Wednesday. Russia officially expects to produce a record 5 million tonnes of sugar from this year's domestic beet crop, although analysts say the final output may be lower.
Last year's sugar crop was hit by the worst drought in decades. The union said in a separate statement that farmers had harvested 35.7 million tonnes of sugar beets by November 1, up from 18.6 million tonnes a year ago.