IKAR in Mass Media

Russian sugar exports could drop by half in 2012

12 декабря 2012 года

MOSCOW - Russia, which entered the global sugar market last year, might reduce exports to 120,000 tonnes this year from 245,000 tonnes in 2011, the Agrarian Market Institute (IKAR) forecasts in a sugar market report.

The report says there are 15 countries interested in Russian sugar, including Canada, the United States, Britain, Syria and Italy.

Russia will produce 4.7 million-4.8 million tonnes of beet sugar in 2012, down from a record 5.1 million tonnes last year, IKAR forecasts. The Union of Sugar Producers reported that Russia produced 4 million tonnes of sugar in the first ten months of 2012. More than 60 of the country's 78 sugar refineries are now operating.

IKAR believes the active production of beet sugar is increasing inventories, which are forecast at 3.3 million tonnes. This reduces the need for the country to import raw sugar, and these imports are expected to total nearly 500,000 tonnes this season. About 90% of this is expected to be imported at the beginning of the raw sugar season - from December through April, rather than from March to June as in 2011, due to an anticipated increase in import duties in May-July. The first ship with raw sugar for Rusagro is expected to arrive in the middle of December.

Sugar prices (Krasnodar) rose from 21.20 rubles to 22.60 rubles per kg in November, climbing for the third consecutive month. The Moscow minimum price rose from 23 rubles to 24.10 rubles in November. The price corridor in December is expected to range from 22.00 to 23.50 rubles per kg.

The institute believes prices could drop to the low end if at least one or two major companies flood the market, while the upper end has been determined by a number of companies to be a "prohibitive price for sales." Since there was no slump in prices in October-November, a steep increase should not be expected for now, the report said.

Source: KyivPost.com | #sugar | Comments: 0 Views: 60

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