Russia's 2013-14 raw sugar imports up 85 percent

Russia will increase its raw sugar imports by at least 85 percent in the 2013/14 marketing year starting on August 1, as its own beet sugar output is expected to fall, Russia's Institute for Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR) said on Tuesday. Russia plans to become self-sufficient in sugar after being the world's biggest raw sugar importer a decade ago. But this plan is being delayed in 2013/14 as struggling farmers shift towards planting more profitable grains.
The country will import at least 850,000 tonnes of raw sugar in 2013/14 compared with about 460,000 tonnes this year, Yevgeny Ivanov, an analyst with IKAR, told Reuters. Its beet sugar production is expected to fall by 19 percent to 3.85 million tonnes as last year's drought led many farmers to switch away from sugar.