Russian market - Latest Sugar News - Fork Cast

The State Duma Committee supported a bill on maximum markups for socially significant products, allowing regions to set markups up to 5% for wholesalers and up to 15% for retail. The goal is to prevent price increases and fairly distribute profits. The government expressed support and highlighted potential risks related to shortages and illegal schemes. The proposal requires further refinement.

Production of sugar in the 2025/26 season is expected to reach 6.2-6.8 million tons, thanks to the expansion of sugar beet cultivation areas. The cultivation area will increase to 1.173 million hectares, especially in the Central Chernozem region. Growth is expected to be between 1 to 4%, mainly in regions with completed crop processing. Yield will be average due to a warm winter, which may require additional plantings.

In 2024, the "Zherdevsky" plant processed 707 thousand tons of sugar beets, yielding 113 thousand tons of sugar. The quality of the raw materials remained high despite the unfavorable weather conditions.

In the new year of 2025, it is planned to increase the processing volume and carry out extensive equipment preparation. The shortage of experienced specialists remains a problem.

The government has postponed the payment of the environmental tax for manufacturers of self-propelled special machinery until December 2025. Decision No. 157 is aimed at supporting domestic enterprises and stabilizing the financial position in the face of economic difficulties.

The Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation has revealed violations: 350 million rubles of grants for potato and beet selection were spent incorrectly. Equipment was purchased unnecessarily due to a shortage of domestic seeds. The Ministry of Agriculture has changed the expenditure control system.

Sugar factories of Prodimeks Holding set a record in sugar beet production - 1 million tons. The processing plan is being followed, and the completion of production in different regions is scheduled for December 2025. Stavropolsakhar has already finished the season.

8 contracts for white sugar were sold on the National Commodity Exchange and 1 contract on SPbMTSB. The maximum trading price was 57000 rubles/ton on SPbMTSB and 56800 rubles/ton on NCE.

The Branch of the Holding "Tavros" will not pay dividends for the first 9 months of 2024 due to financial difficulties. Dividends of 1.9 thousand rubles per share will be redirected to finance other companies in the holding. Minority shareholders can expect payments in January 2025 after the funds are reserved.

In Krasnodar region, sugar beet yield has decreased from 552 to 352 c/ha. In Voronezh region, 27 thousand hectares were replanted due to frosts, resulting in a yield of 389 c/ha. In Kursk, 4.4 million tons were harvested with a yield of 450 c/ha. Lipetsk region obtained 4.1 million tons due to frosts and drought. Orel region increased the yield by 57 thousand tons, while Tambov region harvested 4.5 million tons.

There was a stable situation in the sugar market: demand remained low, prices hardly changed. Production decreased due to the decline in the quality of sugar beets, however, there is still a surplus. Sugar and raw sugar exports decreased, while imports were cut by a third. The shortage of distillers grains supply to China affected the overall export volume.

The Chishmin Plant in Bashkortostan has started supplying sugar beet pulp to Uzbekistan. A batch of 20 tons was sent in November, with plans to increase the volumes to 1000 tons monthly. Beet pulp is in demand in Uzbekistan's livestock farming and is considered an effective feed additive.

The plant has expanded its capacity after modernization and changed its strategy, focusing on supplies to China and Kazakhstan.

In 2024, farmers in the Kursk region harvested around 2 million tons of sugar beets, which is 23% less than the previous year, due to extreme conditions.

The average yield is 434 centners per hectare.