The sugar industry of Ukraine in the 2023 season sets a record for expanding production areas to 249,900 hectares under sugar beet, with an expected production volume of 1.7 million tonnes, a potential export of 600,000 tonnes and favorable prices on the product on world markets, Acting Head of the Board of the Ukrtsukor National Association Nazar Mykhailovyn said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

"This year, not only did the forecasts for production areas come true, but they also exceeded expectations. If on the eve of the sowing campaign we expected 239,000 hectares of the area under sugar beet, now, according to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, there are 249,900 hectares, which is more than in the pre-war 2021, when Ukraine grew crops on 220,000 hectares," he said.

Favorable weather conditions during the growing season, he said, allow us to hope for a good yield of 500-550 centners per hectare, sugar content in the range of 14.5-17%, which will make it possible to obtain a shaft of sugar beet within 13 million tonnes.

He noted that the production season of sugar making has already begun in Vinnytsia and Cherkasy regions and it will last until the first decade of 2024 due to the availability of raw materials for processing. He recalled that in 2022 the sugar-making season ended in the last days of December.

According to him, seven more plants will join last year's sugar production, three of which are in Kyiv region, two in Zhytomyr region, one each in Khmelnytsky and Ternopil regions.

Mykhailovyn recalled that at the beginning of the full-scale war, one sugar factory in Kharkiv region was under occupation. Currently, there are no sugar factories in Ukraine that were under occupation. Kharkiv region did not sow sugar beet, as there was no complete demining of the land. Consequently, the region's sugar refineries will not operate.

"According to the forecasts of world companies - leading sugar producers, traders, buyers, the world is expected to have a shortage of sugar within 2 million tonnes, with a total demand of the world market of 184 million tonnes of sugar for the period 2023/2024 MY," the expert said and added that the export potential of Ukraine in the current season will be at least 600,000 tonnes.