The situation with sugar in Russia leads to the fact that domestic prices for it are falling, while global ones are growing.
According to Rosstat, in April 2022, sugar in retail sales within the Russian Federation cost about 88 rubles, but now it has crept up to 69 rubles, which is a drop of about 21%.
At the same time, it is very important that the wholesale prices for sugar within the country practically did not change in 2022-2023. — about 60 rubles per kg.
The reason for the high prices last year was mainly rush demand, as well as the fact that the government has actively controlled sugar prices since the beginning of the pandemic 2020, which sometimes caused retail chains to sell this product cheaper than purchase prices.
What happens to world prices?
Against the backdrop of all this, a completely different situation took place in the world.
This year, world sugar prices in April reached $705 per ton, which was the highest value since 2011.
Now there has been a slight correction to $680, but still, as a result, sugar has risen in price by about 25%, and this increase occurred only during an incomplete 2023.
What’s more, sugar was the world’s leading commodity market leader, gaining 25%, while cocoa rose 15% and coffee 8%.
In many ways, these trends are due to the fact that in many sugar cane producing countries there is an unfavorable situation with the volume of the crop.
In particular, this applies to China, India, Thailand and Pakistan.
In addition, some countries, such as Brazil and Europe, use sugarcane to produce ethanol for fuel.
This became possible due to the rise in oil prices and also causes an increase in the cost of sugar.
What are the prospects?
At present, Russia is fully provided with sugar, said Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
In addition, the country has accumulated a record volume of sugar reserves, about 3 million tons, which is 13% more than last year.
Also this year, Russia is expected to produce about 6.5 million tons of sugar, while its own consumption is no more than 6 million tons.
And this opens up wide opportunities for export. Russia entered the world sugar market as an exporter back in 2016, but since the fall of 2022, exports have declined sharply as a ban on the export of sugar from the country was introduced.
Such measures can lead to the loss of customers abroad, experts say, with
The fact that exports at the moment practically do not threaten their own food security.
