March 30 2004, 07:49 Interfax-Ukraine

Ukraine's sugar market will keep stable until the end of MY - VPM for agriculture

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for Agriculture Ivan Kyrylenko forecasts stability of the country's sugar market till the end of marketing year (September), thanks to saturation of the market.

Kyrylenko said in an interview to Interfax-Ukraine news agency that price fluctuations on the market would be minimal and added that the government would take to the mechanism of interventions from the state reserve if any prerequisites for a price increase arose. He thinks that interventions on the sugar market would not be started until June.

Ukraine's Committee for State Reserve plans to sell 70,000 tonnes of sugar in 2004.

Nearly each year Ukraine experiences a growth of sugar prices in summer month because of depletion of stocks against the background of increase in consumption.

According to National Sugar Industry Association "Ukrtsukor", stocks of sugar in Ukraine as of March 1 were 1.4 million tonnes, following massive imports of raw sugar to the country.

In 2003 the production of sugar from locally grown sugar beet constituted 1.45 million tonnes - approximately the same as in 2002.

Capacity of Ukrainian sugar market is assessed by specialists in 1.8 million tonnes per year.