Russia refined 2.84 million tonnes of white sugar from imported raws from the start of the year to August 31, up 25 percent from 2.27 million by September 1 a year ago, the Russian Sugar Producers' Union said on Friday.
Russian raw sugar imports fell sharply to 2.6 million tonnes last year from 4.1 million in 2003 following the introduction of a floating import tariff instead of a tariff quota. They started rising after the new tariff had been adjusted.
Some analysts say imports may rise to more than 3 million tonnes this year, despite an expected high domestic sugar beet output. The union said Russia's refineries were switching to processing domestic beets.
By September 7, 28 plants processed 1.34 million tonnes of local sugar beet, producing 152,600 tonnes of white sugar. By September 8 last year, 29 plants produced 88,100 tonnes of sugar, it said.