A worker at the Krasnopresnensky Sugar Factory in Moscow packs lump sugar.
Photo: Valery Melnikov
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Sugar Prices Will Fall This Summer
Sugar prices in Russia will fall this summer when the seasonal import duty is reduced from $220 to $140 per ton. At the same time, imports, which fluctuated between 75,000 and 180,000 tons between May and December, are expected to jump to 400,000 to 700,000 tons. Prices for domestically produce sugar will fall simultaneously. The seasonal duty was imposed on December 1, 2007, to protect the domestic sugar industry. The Russian sugar industry has doubled in the last four years due to massive investments.
Sugar prices will not fall immediately on June 1, since the raw sugar has to be cleared through customs, delivered to sugar plants, processed and shipped within Russia. The lower duty on sugar will also be counteracted by an 8-percent increase in railroad cargo rates. According to Rosstat, the state statistics service, the price of sugar rose 8.8 percent in the first four months of the year. It rose 2.1 percent between May 6 and 12.
In spite of the fact that the higher duty is in effect until the end of this month, sugar imports have already started to rise, almost tripling in April, compared to March, and reaching $68.9 million that month. That is because stores of sugar have run out after the fall in imports when the duty was imposed. Some sugar is imported into Russia after being processed in neighboring countries.
www.kommersant.com
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