Ukraine has reduced sugar exports by 33%. Where are the largest exports going?
3 March 12:47
Ukraine reduced sugar exports by 33% in the first six months of the 2025-26 marketing year (September-February), from 403,500 tons to 270,000 tons. This was reported by the National Association of Sugar Producers of Ukraine (Ukrtsukor), according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
The main destinations for Ukrainian exports during this period were:
Lebanon — 29%,
Syria — 17%,
EU — 14%,
North Macedonia — 6%,
Mauritania — 5%.
Earlier, the Ukrainian Sugar Producers Association (Ukrtsukor) reported that the sugar production season in Ukraine ended on February 1, 2026, with a total output of 1.72 million tons.
“The 26 factories that are members of the Ukrtsukor association produced 1.64 million tons of sugar,” the report said. “Taking into account one more factory that is not a member of the association but processed beets this season, the total production in the country amounted to 1.72 million tons,” Ukrtsukor reported.
It is noted that despite a 23% reduction in sugar beet acreage compared to last year, or 50,000 hectares, sugar production decreased by only 4%, or 80,000 tons.
“This is primarily due to an increase in sugar beet yields to a historic record of 58 tons/ha, an improvement in its technological characteristics, in particular the sugar content, which this year amounted to 17.6%, as well as operational improvements at sugar factories. All these factors offset the impact of the reduction in acreage,” said Yana Kavushevska, head of Ukrtsukor. “The sugar yield for the industry this year was 15.17%, which is almost 1% higher than the same indicator in 2024.”
At the same time, the leaders in sugar production in the 2025 season remained unchanged:
Radehivsky Sugar (owned by Poland’s Pfeifer & Langen Investments) — 32%;
Astarta Viktor Ivanchik — 21%;
Ukrprominvest-Agro — 15%;
Teofipol Sugar Factory — 6%;
Aspik Group — 5%.
At the same time, sugar factories produced 1.8 million tons of sugar in 2024, which is practically the same as in 2023.
As reported, in 2025, compared to 2024, Ukraine reduced sugar exports by 38%, from 746,300 tons to 463,700 tons.
The main buyers of Ukrainian sugar in 2025 were: Lebanon — 15% of exports; Bulgaria — 14%; North Macedonia — 8%; Libya — 7%; Syria — 6%; and Turkey — 6%.
Agreements on the renewal of the free trade agreement between Ukraine and the EU provide for a significant increase in quotas for the export of sensitive agricultural products to the EU compared to those that were in force before the introduction of autonomous trade preferences (ATP) in 2022. They were renewed on June 6, 2025.
Ukrainian sugar producers set a historic record for exports of this product in 2024. A total of 746,300 tons of sugar worth $419 million were sold on foreign markets.
The European Commission planned to sharply reduce imports of Ukrainian sugar after EU producers complained that large shipments had caused sugar prices to collapse. EU farmers claimed that imports from Ukraine had undermined local supplies, leading to lower prices and making it difficult for them to sell their products.
At the same time, Ukrainian sugar exports to the EU had already become a subject of controversy with EU countries. Thus, on July 2, 2024, duties were imposed on Ukrainian sugar supplied in excess of the established quotas.
