October 5 2001, 16:29 UkrInform

Sugar production this year will be below forecasted level

Sugar production this year will be below forecasted level, because sugar beet quality this year is worse than last year, specialists of National Association of sugar producers of Ukraine "Ukrtsukor" announced.

According to the association, as for October 4 sugar content totaled 14.96 percent, which is 0.44 percent lower than last year. Sugar yielding from it totals 11.31 percent vs. 11.49 percent last year.

Due to low quality sugar beet keeps badly at storing enterprises and starts to rot. Sugar producers connect this with unfavorable weather as well as use of low quality seeds by farmers in planting.

In general, plants count to receive for processing about 15 million tons of sugar beet, which is 1.5 million tons more than last year.

Earlier the Ministry of Agrarian Politics forecasted that this year 2 million tons of sugar would be produced, which is 22.5 percent or 450 thousand tons more than last year.