Union: Russia’s sugar output rises 12% to 5.8 mln tns as of Mon

MOSCOW, Jan 9 (PRIME) – Russian companies increased sugar production by 11.7% on the year to 5.75 million tonnes as of Monday from beetroot harvested in 2016, the country’s Union of Sugar Producers said in a statement.

Currently, 25 sugar plants are operating in the country, compared with six as of the beginning of 2016. The union’s data shows that several plants will operate until mid-February given the amount of harvested beetroot.

In 2016, Russia harvested a record 48.3 million tonnes of beetroot, which fully covered internal demand and allowed the country to increase exports. In December 2016, the union increased its estimate of Russia’s sugar exports in the 2016–2017 marketing year, which lasts from August 1, 2016 through July 31, 2017 to 500,000 tonnes from 350,000 tonnes.

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