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IKAR in Mass Media

Russia 2012/13 white sugar exports seen up 10 pct

28 августа 2012 года

MOSCOW, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Russia will step up white sugar exports by 10 percent due to low domestic prices, despite flat beet sugar output, a Russian grain analyst said on Tuesday.

Exports will climb to 226,000 tonnes in the marketing year from August 2012 to July 2013.

"This is a very conservative estimate," Yevgeny Ivanov, an analyst with the Institute of Agricultural Market Studies, told Reuters.

Ivanov also said that exports to Russia's core markets, such as Kazakhstan, Afghanistan and Mongolia, will increase significantly if Russian domestic prices fall during autumn.

As of August 28, Russian sugar prices in Krasnodar region, near the Black Sea ports of Novorossiisk, fell 22 percent to 20.3 roubles ($0.64) per kilo on concerns over strong production from its pick levels, recorded on July 27, according to IKAR.

U.S. benchmark October sugar futures on ICE rose 0.66 percent to 19.69 cents per lb by 1038 GMT. The product selling accelerated late last week after data by Brazilian milling association Unica reinforced concerns about a surplus and eased concerns about any disruption to supplies.

IKAR expects Russia to refine around 5.0-5.2 million tonnes of sugar from beets during 2012/13, almost flat year-on-year, despite a shrinking sowings area, which decreased by 11.5 percent to 1.14 million hectares.

The country will be able to retain production levels thanks to increased yields and sugar content and decreased storage losses, according to Ivanov.

Russia's sugar beet test, the sixth since the start of the season, showed the average root weight rose to 463 grams from the 450 grams seen last August, the Russian Sugar Producers' Union industry lobby said last week. The latest test showed sugar content was 14.8 percent, up from 14.1 percent a year ago.

This year, with the help of warm weather, some farmers have started harvesting earlier, aiming to cap losses, Ivanov said.

"They can store beets safely only when daily temperature is below 16 Celsius degrees (60.8 Fahrenheit degrees)."

As of August 27, farmers harvested 2.84 million tonnes of sugar beets from 6.6 percent of sowed area with yields at 37.5 tonnes per hectare, down from last year's 39.5 tonnes per hectare, the sugar lobby said on Tuesday.

From July 1 to August 27, 41 out of Russia's 78 sugar refineries were processing beets and have refined 208,950 tonnes of white sugar, down from 209,830 a year ago, the lobby said. The lobby expects Russia to produce 5 million tonnes of sugar from domestic beets this year.

Russian 2012/13 domestic demand is expected to reach 5.66 million tonnes, up from last year's 5.55 million tonnes, Ivanov said, adding that raw sugar imports may rise to 550,000 tonnes from 419,000 tonnes.

Its closing stocks by July 2013 are expected at 1.34 million tonnes of white sugar, up from last year's 1.29 million tonnes, according to IKAR.

Russia refines the sugar it consumes from domestic beets and most of the remainder from raw cane sugar, imported chiefly from Brazil.

Russian raw sugar imports fell to 414,900 tonnes in the first half of 2012 from 2.26 million tonnes recorded in the same period last year following a record domestic sugar beet crop, the latest customs data showed.

($1 = 31.8535 Russian roubles)

Source: Reuters  |  #sugar   |  Comments: 0   Views: 72

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