Sugar production in Ukraine in the 2019/2020 marketing year (MY, September-August) decreased by 19% compared to the previous MY, to 1.48 million tonnes. According to the Ukrtsukor National Association of Sugar Producers, in total 33 sugar refineries were operating during the season, which processed 9.84 million tonnes of sugar beets, which is almost a third less than a year earlier.
“As we can see, a significant decrease in the amount of raw materials entailed a reduction in the operation of production capacities and, as a result, a decrease in sugar production in general,” the deputy chairman of the board of the association, Ruslana Yanenko, said.
According to her, such a result is quite predictable, because the global sugar surplus that has been observed over the past three years has also significantly affected the Ukrainian market – a 20% reduction in the area under sugar beets and a decrease in the amount of raw materials.
“In addition to the fact that nine processing plants did not start this year, the production season also decreased by almost a month, and this will certainly affect the cost of sugar production, because a sugar factory must work a minimum of 100 days to cover the launch costs,” she said.
The three leaders in sugar production in Ukraine remained Vinnytsia region with 331,900 tonnes, Khmelnytsky region with 192,800 tonnes, and Ternopil region with 186,400 tonnes.
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of January 10
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 10/01/20
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Belarus and Ukraine will hold the Third Forum of Regions in Grodno, and Belarus has begun the relevant preparations, the Belarusian government’s press service said in a statement. “Consistent with the Belarusian prime minister’s instruction No. 1R dated January 6, an organizing committee has been established to prepare for and to hold the Third Forum of Regions between Belarus and Ukraine in Grodno in 2020. It is headed by Deputy Prime Minister Igor Lyashenko,” the statement said. The organizing committee has been tasked with elaborating and approving the plan of preparations for the event before February 20.
The First Forum of Regions of Belarus and Ukraine took place in Gomel, Belarus, in October 2018, and the Second Forum of Regions was hosted by Zhytomyr, Ukraine, in October 2019. The parties signed commercial contracts with a total value of $140 million and $500 million, respectively.
Ukraine’s international reserves in 2019 increased by 22% and amounted to $25.3 billion as of January 1, 2020, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) said on its website.
“This amount of reserves not only exceeded the latest forecast of the National Bank ($23 billion in equivalent, according to the Inflation Report for October 2019), but also reached a seven-year high: the last time a greater volume was recorded back in December 2012,” the NBU said.
At the same time, the release states that the National Bank managed to increase international reserves in general by $4.5 billion per year due to the continued favorable situation in the foreign exchange market, which is due to a further acceleration of economic growth and a steady influx of foreign capital into the country.
The NBU notes that the buildup of international reserves occurred in the year of double elections and peak payments on external public debt, which is an additional evidence of the strengthening of macro-financial stability in the country.
During 2019, the supply of currency in the interbank market significantly exceeded the demand. A high level of supply was provided by Ukrainian exporting companies, primarily farmers, who, despite a slight deterioration in the terms of trade in the world markets, increased sales, as well as foreign investors who sold $4.3 billion to buy hryvnia-denominated government bonds. External financing was actively attracted by state and private companies. At the same time, importers’ demand for foreign currency was moderate, in particular due to lower world energy prices. The volume of repatriation of business dividends abroad was also smaller, the report said.
According to the release, over the year, the National Bank’s net purchase of foreign currency amounted to $7.9 billion, which is the highest figure in the last 14 years.
Active currency sales by the private economic sector, state-owned companies, as well as foreign investors allowed the NBU to replenish international reserves in December by $2.933 billion (net purchase of foreign currency). In particular, $1.743 billion was bought at a single rate, $510 million – by choosing the best rate and $730 million – at auction. At the same time, in order to smooth out fluctuations towards the depreciation of the hryvnia, the NBU in December sold $50 million at a single rate during one trading day.
According to the report, in December, $220.3 million was sent for servicing and repaying the state debt in foreign currency, including $181.3 million paid on government domestic loan bonds. These expenses were offset by revenues of $514 million, including $259 million and EUR 198 million from the placement of government bonds denominated in foreign currency.
The size of international reserves was also affected by the revaluation of financial tools (changes in the market value and the hryvnia exchange rate against foreign currencies). Last month their value increased by $143.6 million.
At the same time, the regulator said that the current volume of international reserves covers 3.9 months of Current External Payments (CXP) and is sufficient to meet Ukraine’s obligations and current operations of the government and the NBU.
Ukraine since the beginning of the agricultural year 2019/2020 (July-June) has exported 31.7 million tonnes of grain and leguminous crops, which is 27.8% more than during the same time in the past agri-year.
According to the information of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumers’ Protection, the country has currently exported almost 15 million tonnes of wheat (including over 11.7 million tonnes of bread wheat and over 3.2 million tonnes of coarse wheat), 12.8 million tonnes of corn, and 3.6 million tonnes of barley.
Over the same period of the previous agri-year, over 24.8 million tonnes of grains were exported, including 10.8 million tonnes of wheat (6.7 million tonnes of bread wheat and 4.1 million tonnes of coarse wheat), 10.4 million tonnes of corn and over 3 million tonnes of barley.
As reported, Ukraine in the 2018/2019 agri-year exported a record 50.4 million tonnes of grain, legumes and flour, which is 23% more than in the previous agri-year.
