Kyiv: Ukraine is expected to reduce white sugar production to about 1.5 million metric tons in 2025, down from 1.8 million tons this year, due to large stockpiles and growing export challenges, the head of the national sugar union Ukrtsukor said on Tuesday, reports Market Screener.
During the Soviet era, Ukraine produced nearly 5 million tons of sugar from sugar beet, but output has fallen sharply in the years since, largely because of export difficulties. The ongoing war with Russia has further strained the sector, with a shrinking population and declining domestic consumption contributing to the slowdown.
Ukrtsukor head Yana Kavushevska told Komersant Ukraine’s video service that domestic consumption stood at around 0.9 million tons in the 2024/25 September–August season and is expected to remain at the same level in 2025/26.
She noted that Ukraine exported 575,000 tons of sugar in the 2024/25 season, compared to 692,000 tons a year earlier. Export volumes could fall further in the new season, mainly due to European Union restrictions.
Under current rules, Ukraine was allowed to ship 262,000 tons of sugar duty-free to the EU in 2024, but the quota has been cut to 109,000 tons for January–June 2025 and just 11,000 tons for the second half of the year.
Kavushevska added that Brussels could raise the quota to about 100,000 tons, but no final decision has been made yet.
