«The main volumes were exported to Turkey (25%), Uzbekistan (23%), Libya (15%) and Sri Lanka — 7,2 thousand tonnes», — commented Ruslana Butylo the leading speaker of «Sugar World 2018».

She says that in September-January MY 2017/18 it was exported 250,06 thousand tonnes of sugar, which is almost twice less than last year: «In the same period of the last year, Ukrainian producers exported 409,7 thousand tonnes of sugar. As we see, this year's level is almost twice as low — 250,06 thousand tonnes. This is due to the unfavorable global market conditions and a certain surplus, which has arose due to sugar overproduction in India and Brazil».

It is necessary to diversify production, both in the key of by-products and through increased added value of sugar in order to minimize the risks of surplus. For example, it is possible to switch to biofuel production, or granulate pulp and sell molasses. Another option is the production of fine-packaged sugar, which is in demand in a number of countries.

"Such" bioethanol scheme" is not absolutely new and works in many countries. For example, in Brazil, the world leader in the sugar market. When the price situation in the sugar market becomes critical — sugar refineries recycle most of the cane to bioethanol production, thus reducing sugar supply. Such an action, in turn, affects prices, creating a higher profitability of sugar production», — explained Ruslana Butylo.

How Ukrainian producers diversify their production and whether they need to develop a biofuel trend will be discussed at the 2-nd International Congress for Sugar Beet Producers and Processors «Sugar World 2018» on March, 1.