PARIS: Imports of Ukrainian sugar into the European Union grew tenfold last season and extended their rise at the start of the current 2023/24 season to the detriment of Brazil which is on track of losing its leadership in the bloc, EU data showed on Friday.
Ukrainian sugar imports into the EU rose to 413,000 metric tons in the 2022/23 season that ended on Sept. 30, from just 40,000 in 2021/22.
Just like it did with other commodities, the EU lifted import duties on Ukrainian sugar after the start of the war with Russia, prompting an outcry from local producers who call it unfair competition.
The share of Ukrainian sugar in total EU sugar imports, which rose to 16% last season, continued to grow at the start of the current 2023/24 season, reaching 38% of total imports in October and the first three weeks of November, the Commission said.
Over the same period Brazil, the world’s largest sugar producer, saw its share of EU sugar imports fall to 8%, compared to 32% over the whole 2022/23 season.
About a third of the Ukrainian sugar in 2022/23 went to neighbouring Romania, followed by Poland, Italy, Hungary and Bulgaria, with smaller shares, the data showed. In total, the EU sharply extended its sugar deficit in 2022/23, with white sugar imports rising over 70% to 2.6 million metric tons while exports fell 23% to 801,000 tonnes.
The EU sugar deficit, which follows a poor sugar beet crop in the bloc, has boosted EU prices to record highs last season and these continued to rise in October, reaching a new high of 810 euros per tonne, up 255 euros on the previous year.
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