3 May 2023

Ukrainian sugar exports in April 2023 amounted to 46,000 tons, which is almost equal to the volume of exports in the previous month.

According to preliminary data of the Ministry of Agricultural Policy, the export of sugar in April 2023 amounted to 46,000 tons with a total value of $37 million.

The main importing countries of Ukrainian sugar in the reporting month were Romania (14 thousand tons), Italy (5.6 thousand tons) and Bulgaria (5.4 thousand tons). The average export price increased slightly compared to March and comprised $806 per 1 ton. This price level is quite attractive for Ukrainian producers, according to Astarta, its production cost of sugar in the current season, excluding the profit from growing beets, is about $500-550 per 1 ton, the full net cost, including transportation costs, is about $600 per 1 ton.

Since the beginning of the current calendar year, Ukrainian sugar exports totaled 170,000 tons. For comparison, in the first half of 2022, the volume of exports amounted to just 14,000 tons.

Since the beginning of the 2022/23 season (October 2022), Ukraine has already exported 308,000 tons of sugar.

The monthly dynamics of Ukrainian sugar exports during the current season is shown in the following graph:

In 2022, the sugar beet harvest in Ukraine amounted to 9.1 million tons (yield - about 50 t/ha compared to last year's 47 t/ha and 41.6 t/ha in 2020), total sugar output - 1.2-1.25 million tons.

We keep unchanged our estimates regarding the volume of Ukrainian sugar exports in the current season (until September 2023) – up to 400,000 tons.

In March, the average export price of Ukrainian sugar almost did not change compared to previous months and amounted to $795 per 1 ton. The export price remains quite attractive for Ukrainian manufacturers.

The largest producers and exporters of sugar in Ukraine are Astarta, Ukrprominvest-Agro and Radehiv-Sukor.

Our recent review of the Ukrainian sugar market is available here.