Uzbekistan may become the main market for Ukrainian sugar in April

Uzbekistan has been among the three key export destinations for Ukrainian sugar since March, and by the end of April it may become the No. 1 market. This was stated by the Chairman of the Board of Ukrtsukru Yana Kavushevska in an interview with Latifundist.com.

According to her, such a change in the geography of exports is atypical and is primarily due to the disruption of traditional logistics chains in the region. Due to the crisis in the Persian Gulf, sugar supplies from the Middle East, in particular from the UAE, to the countries of Central Asia have decreased, which has opened a “window of opportunity” for Ukrainian exporters.

“It so happened that under the current conditions, complex and expensive logistics from Ukraine — through the Black Sea, Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea — turned out to be competitive and interesting,” Kavushevska noted.

At the same time, she emphasized that so far it is more about situational demand, although the Uzbek market is not new for Ukraine and has the potential to restore stable supplies. Among the limitations is the lack of transshipment capacities and wagons, which is holding back the pace of exports.

In parallel, Ukraine continues to supply traditional markets in the Middle East, in particular to Syria and Lebanon.

As of now, Ukraine has exported about 426 thousand tons of sugar, which is 12% less than last year. At the same time, according to Kavushevskaya, by the end of the marketing year (September 1), exports may reach 500 thousand tons.

What is happening with sugar beet crops in Ukraine

According to Kavushevskaya, more than 3 thousand hectares of beet crops, “blown out” as a result of a dust storm in the west and southwest, will need to be replanted. It is estimated that more than 15% of crops are at risk due to frost.

Farmers estimate these areas at 4 thousand hectares.

The total area for sowing sugar beet this year is 197.2 thousand hectares, according to official statistics. However, Ukrsugar believes that they will be smaller — only 160 thousand hectares. This is the lowest figure “at least since the creation of Ukrsugar in 1997, and obviously earlier, since in the 80s-90s Ukraine sowed more than 1.5 million hectares.”

How is the sowing of sugar beet progressing

As of April 27, farmers have sown 162.8 thousand hectares of sugar beet (83% of the planned). Sowing has been completed in six regions: Khmelnytskyi (32.7 thousand hectares), Ternopil (16.1 thousand hectares), Rivne (14.6 thousand hectares), Volyn (9 thousand hectares), Zhytomyr (4.8 thousand hectares), Chernivtsi (1.6 thousand hectares).

Tags: Ukraine, export, sugar, Uzbekistan