Currently, manufacturing plants offer it at about 45 rubles per kilogram.
The reduction in price is associated with the onset of the period of stock accumulation.
Such a period in Russia occurs annually in September and lasts until December. It was at this time that sugar factories process sugar beets and form a sugar reserve for the entire next season.
As the leading expert of the Institute of Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR) Yevgeny Ivanov noted, a week ago all sugar factories in Russia began their work.
It is with this that the price reduction is connected.
Currently, the country is still harvesting sugar beets. If it passes without force majeure — in particular, without early frosts — then the harvest will be decent.
As of October 29, 33.9 million tonnes of sugar beets were harvested. The average yield was 392.5 centners per hectare. In general, beet harvesting in the current season should be completed later than in the previous one.
The Ministry of Agriculture announces a rise in prices
Against this background, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation announced the opposite trend.
According to him, as of October 27, the price of sugar increased by 1.6% over the week and amounted to 41.3 rubles per kilogram.
But at the same time IKAR states that the data of the Ministry of Agriculture are not accurate. According to Evgeny Ivanov, the price of sugar this year fell from March 16 to July 26, then rose until September 15, after which it began to decline again …
According to the Union of Sugar Producers of the Russian Federation, by October 29 it is planned to process 18.2 million tons of sugar beets. This is 4.3% more than last season.
Sugar production to date is 2.4 million tonnes, down 8.5% year-on-year.
What are manufacturers afraid of?
They have several reasons for concern at once.
Growth in the cost of sugar beet production. It can grow up to 19% and amount to 125 thousand rubles per centner. This is due to rising costs for fertilizers, fuel, as well as logistics and wages.
This logically implies the risk of a decrease in crops next year . This season, sugar beet was sown 8.5% more than in the previous one, and the total area under crops was 1 million hectares. But next season there is a big risk of falling indicators.
At the same time, the increase in the yield of sugar beet next year may not exceed 6.6%, as a result of which the yield will grow to 400 centners per hectare.
All this may lead to the fact that next season we will see a decrease in the yield of sugar beets, as well as a drop in sugar production . And if you do not take any additional measures, then the likelihood of such consequences is very high.
