Ukrainian sugar refineries have produced 27,500 tonnes of white sugar from the 2007 sugar beet crop by September 19, or 29 percent more than at the same date in 2006, producers said on Friday. Mills started beet sugar production in early September. Sugar union Ukrtsukor said refineries had received 765,400 tonnes of beet so far and already processed 313,800 tonnes.
Farm minister Yuri Melnyk said on Friday the 2007 white beet sugar output was likely to total 1.79 million tonnes against his previous estimate of 1.7 to 1.8 million and compared with 2.6 million in 2006. He also said the sugar beet crop was likely to total 16.3 million tonnes in 2007 compared with 22.3 million in 2006.
Melnyk said Ukraine, which consumes about 2 million tonnes of sugar per season, would have a sugar surplus of about 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes in the 2007/08 season and that could lower local prices at a time when exports are severely limited.