The Customs Subcommittee approved a ban on the export of sugar from the Russian Federation; after the publication of the decision, exporters must complete or cancel contracts.
Russia has introduced a ban on sugar exports until August 31 of this year. The ban applies to both white sugar and raw beet sugar.
Thus, companies involved in exporting may be given only 5 working days to complete all deliveries or cancel contracts.
After 5 days, all sugar supplies abroad will become illegal. An exception is made only for the EAEU countries.
At the same time, the introduction of such a ban did not come as a surprise to the industry, because back in March the Ministry of Agriculture published a draft government resolution that contained this same ban on the supply of sugar abroad.
The reason for the ban is that the government is worried about the excessive pace of sugar supplies abroad, which could affect Russia’s own food security.
For example, during January 71 thousand tons of sugar were exported, during February another 81 thousand tons, and in total from August 1 to the end of February the volume of exports amounted to as much as 700 thousand tons.
In particular, experts talk about the need to ensure sufficient carryover reserves of sugar by the beginning of the new agricultural season.
Currently, Russian sugar is quite attractive in price, and this, among other things, explains the high demand for it from foreign companies.
For example, now Russian-produced sugar is actively purchased by Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, as well as Turkey, Senegal and the DPRK, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
“The pace of export of Russian raw beet sugar is also setting records.
According to our estimates, since the beginning of March, 48.8 thousand tons of Russian raw beet sugar have been shipped to Uzbekistan by rail.
The export of raw sugar to Azerbaijan has resumed; 339 tons of raw sugar have been supplied to the Imishli plant,” notes Sugar.ru.
At the same time, analysts have an ambiguous attitude towards the initiative to ban sugar exports.
For example, a leading expert at the Institute of Agricultural Market Studies, Evgeniy Ivanov, is confident that Russia may lose foreign markets, which were not easy to conquer and required a lot of time and effort.
If Russia leaves these markets, returning there will also be difficult, if not impossible.
The expert noted that, last of all, it is necessary to prohibit sending abroad shipments of sugar of less than 25 tons in packages of less than 2 kg, since such a product has a very high added value and brings great benefits to companies and the budget.
