KYIV: Ukrainian sugar refineries have produced 984,300 tonnes of white sugar from 7.41 million tonnes of sugar beet so far in the 2020-21 production year, which began on Sept. 1, the Ukrtsukor national sugar union said on Wednesday.

That already accounts for the bulk of the total white sugar output of 1.2 million tonnes predicted by the union for the full harvest year, a drop of 15% compared with the previous year.

The economy ministry has said farmers harvested about 9 million tonnes of sugar beet this year.

White sugar production fell by 19% to 1.48 million tonnes in the season to Aug. 31 owing to a smaller beet harvest.