Sugar exports: Ukraine to lose nearly 20%—analysts
3 April 17:21
In the 2025–26 marketing year, Ukraine will export 505,000 tons of sugar, which is 19.7% less than in the previous marketing year. This was reported by analysts from the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UAC), according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
“Sugar beet and sugar production in Ukraine is undergoing changes due to external trade restrictions. Taking this year’s harvest into account, in the 2025/26 marketing year Ukraine will be able to produce about 1.3 million tons of sugar, which is 26.3% less than the previous marketing year and 12.6% below the average for the last 5 years,” the report states.
In this marketing year, the area planted with sugar beets has shrunk to 199,000 hectares, which is 21.6% less than the previous marketing year and 12.4% below the five-year average.
The main reasons for the reduction are the introduction of quotas on sugar exports to EU countries and complicated logistics to other markets.
At the same time, sugar beet yield increased to 49.3 t/ha, which is 2% higher than the previous season and 4.4% above the 5-year average. The total harvest is expected to reach 10.2 million tons.
Also, following the introduction of sugar supply quotas to the EU, total exports in the 2024-25 marketing year fell to 629,000 tons (a 14.2% decline). In the 2025-26 marketing year, this figure will decrease again—to 505,000 tons of sugar.
The main export destinations were African countries (32%) and the Middle East (29%), while the EU’s share was only 17%.
Domestic sugar consumption also declined. By 2022, it stood at 1.1 million tons, and in 2025–2026, it was 0.9 million tons. The main reason was Ukraine’s shrinking population.
“The inability to quickly redirect exports to other countries led to a reduction in the area under cultivation and a decline in total production. However, high yields and carryover stocks (620,000 tons at the start of the season) allow for fully meeting domestic demand, as well as continuing exports with an increased share of shipments to traditional markets,” the report states.
As a reminder:
During the first half of the 2025/26 marketing year (September–February), Ukraine exported 270,000 tons of sugar.
Also, in the fall of 2025, sugar prices in Europe fell to a three-year low, in particular due to excess inventories caused by rising exports from Ukraine.
Following this, European sugar and sugar beet producers appealed to European institutions to impose restrictions on raw sugar imports for the needs of processing enterprises, particularly from Ukraine.
