Ukraine's sugar refineries have increased white beet sugar output by about seven percent to 1.84 million tonnes so far this year compared with 1.73 million at the same date in 2004, producers said on Tuesday.
The sugar producers' union Ukrtsukor said in a statement that refineries had processed 14.03 million tonnes of sugar beet so far and had to process additional 360,000 tonnes of beet by the end of the season.
The country processed 15.99 million tonnes of beet at the same date in 2004.
Ukraine, which needs up to two million tonnes of sugar per year, plans to increase white beet sugar output to between 1.88 and 1.90 million tonnes in 2005 compared with 1.79 million in 2004.