• The average price of white sugar for the area of which Romania is a part exceeded in May 2023 the figure of 900 euros/ton.
The data shows that the price of sugar has almost doubled compared to the same period last year. Regarding the production for our country, the European Commission estimates that, if Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development declared for the year 2021 a production of 110.000 tons, in the commercial year 2023/2024 more than 69.800 tons of sugar will be produced.
In Region 1 of Europe, the average price of white sugar is 809 euros per ton, and in Region 2 - 800 euros per ton. According to the latest data of European Commission the average price of white sugar in region 3 of Europe, which includes Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Italy, Hungary and Portugal, reached 903 euros a ton in May, a record of the last six years.
White sugar is more expensive here than in the other regions and 99% above the May 2021 average. Also, compared to April the price is 1,2% higher and compared to January 2023 by 3,4%. As an average in the EU, the ton of white sugar cost 814 euros in May, 362 euros more than in the same period last year.
Regarding the price on the international markets, on the London Stock Exchange on June 23 the price was 657 dollars a ton, and in New York it was 533 euros a ton.
Romania affected by the ban on Ukrainian exports
The evolution of the price of sugar in the region of which Romania is a part is also influenced by the ban, between June 5 and September 15 this year, of Ukrainian exports. In this context, the forecast for Romanian sugar production is negative, although the sugar factory in Luduș is to resume its production of beet processing from domestic crops.
However, the production forecast for this year is a favorable one, with analysts estimating that Europe will produce over 2023 million tonnes of sugar in the 2024/15,5 marketing year, compared to 14,6 million tonnes in 2022/2023.
If in the 2017/2018 commercial year Romania had 27,6 thousand hectares cultivated with sugar beet, the European Commission forecasts that, for the 2023/2024 commercial year, Romanian sugar production could reach 69.844 tons from an area cultivated with beet of sugar 43,5% higher than last year, i.e. 12,2 thousand hectares. Between October 2022 and May 2023, Romania bought over 100.000 tons of sugar from Ukraine, which represents 31,6% of total EU imports.
Article written by Gabriela Dan, Editor of Arta Albă
Read on White Art and: The Bod Sugar Factory does not resume production this year
