Russia: Sugar Production Holding Steady
29 April 2008 The area devoted to sugarbeet production in Russia should be maintained in the 2009 marketing year, primarily because sugar refineries require a constant supply for processing. The US Dept. of Agriculture’s Foreign Agriculture Service (USDA-FAS) reports that Russia’s State Statistics Service (Rosstat) has sugarbeet production decreasing 6.2% to 28.8 million metric tons (MMT) in 2008, predominately due to a 10.7% decrease in yields.
In the Russian Federation, sugarbeets are planted in April and May and harvested between September and November. A few months ago, sugarbeet producers predicted a decline in total acreage devoted to sugarbeets due to the high demand for crops used to make bio-fuels, but the total sugarbeet area should be stable in 2009 as government policy intervention is expected to prevent a drop in acreage.
The total area devoted to winter crops increased by 2 million hectares (m. Ha) due to the high domestic and international demand for grain, which has resulted in price increases. The Russian Ministry of Agriculture forecasts an increase in area sown to spring grains throughout the country, as more idle land is converted.
Moreover, to avoid a reduction in the total land area devoted to beet production, the government of the Russian Federation introduced a seasonal quota on raw sugar that will be enforced until May 31, 2008. According to a Russian Government Resolution issued in March 2008, the upper price limit for calculating the seasonal import duty on raw cane sugar was eliminated.
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