Ukrainian experts note that sugar exports are irrational
The situation on the domestic and world markets is such that exporting Ukrainian “white gold” is unprofitable. We learn this from simple comparison of price data, submitted to Interfax-Ukraine by State Monitoring Center for Foreign Markets. Ukrainian prices are twice as high as world prices and are 5.50-514.60 per ton.
Ukraine currently exports small sugar shipments only to the Caucasus countries. No deliveries to Russia are made. And the trade war between the two countries turned out to be useless along with the 600,000 ton sugar quota granted Ukraine by Russia. However, according to Chairman of the Ukrainian National Association of Sugar Producers Oleksandr Zayets, Ukraine is “robbing herself in the sugar business,” because it produces much more than it needs (1.5 million tons). Russian businessmen currently cannot afford to buy Ukrainian sugar, because after paying for all the licenses and interest, it becomes more expensive than Russian. And the surplus roams Ukraine, depressing domestic prices. Moreover, no Ukrainian retailer has a big inventory of this commodity, which had strategic meaning for Ukraine in the past. According to Zayets, it is quite difficult to find a shipment of 10,000 tons. The product is scattered throughout Ukraine, which makes market prices unstable.
