Agroindustrial holding “Astarta”, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, plans to process up to 2 million tons of sugar beet, grown at the own enterprise and supplied by the third-party farmers in the current season.
To date, the sugar plants have already produced 241 thousand tons of white sugar from more than 1.7 million tons of beets, and plan to process more than 200 thousand tons more, the holding said in a statement on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
“Astarta” in 2022 began the sugar season on September 16, a total of five sugar refineries of the group were working during the season.
As reported, on December, 9 sugar beet in Ukraine is harvested from 98% of the planned areas, totally 8.9 million tons (+0.3 million tons for the last week) from 177 thousand hectares (+3 thousand hectares).
“Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding, which operates in eight regions of Ukraine. It consists of six sugar factories, agro-farms with land bank of 220 thousand hectares, dairy farms with 22 thousand cattle, oil extraction plant in Globino (Poltava region), seven elevators and biogas complex.
Agroholding increased its net profit in 2021 14 times compared to 2020 – up to EUR 122.5 mln, EBITDA – 1.8 times, up to EUR 201.5 mln. Its revenue increased by 18.2% up to EUR 491.35 mln, one third of which (EUR 170 mln) was generated by sugar production and sales.
Number of dead and wounded civilians in Ukraine as result of military actions from 24.02.2022 according to un data (per)
Data: UN
ING analysts forecast US dollar and euro parity throughout most of 2023.
“The main conclusion we drew in our currency forecast for 2023 was that a repeat of the dollar’s dominant trend next year is unlikely,” according to the review.
As noted by analysts, everyone in the foreign exchange market is concerned about whether the dollar has peaked. Data on some weakening of inflation in the U.S. and hints at easing the “zero tolerance” policy on COVID-19 in China have combined to cause the U.S. national currency has fallen by about 8% from the highs of the end.
Those in favor of continuing the dollar’s decline are fully focused on the Fed’s actions and its reversal before a full-blown cycle of monetary policy easing.
“We certainly agree that a dovish reversal at the Fed – which will eventually lead to the start of a decline in short-term government bond yields – is a necessary condition for the dollar to fall,” the survey says.
However, it also requires that investments in Europe and Asia become attractive enough to take money out of dollar deposits, experts believe.
“It remains questionable whether any of these conditions will be met in 2023, and we remain skeptical that the euro/dollar pair can maintain gains above the 1.05 level,” the report said.
Slovakia is ready, but has not yet sent MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine, this issue was discussed in detail with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, said Slovak Foreign Minister Rastislav Kacher.
“We have not yet handed over the MIG-29s to you. But we are ready to do it. We are talking with our partners in NATO about how to do it. And today (Dec. 8) we had a very informative conversation with your president. My secretary of defense explained to your president how we can do this. And I think that in the coming weeks a Ukrainian delegation will come to Slovakia, and we will work together with our American friends to make this a reality,” Kacher told Interfax-Ukraine.
The foreign minister noted that on December 7 Slovakia approved “a couple of thousand missiles that are used for the MIG-29.” He also said that he discussed the issue of sending the planes with the president of Ukraine during a meeting.
“But we also discussed it at some length with President Zelensky, too. And I think I need to keep it a secret how it’s going to be done so as not to jeopardize it. But I will say that we had a very, very good exchange with President Zelensky today about how we’re going to do this. So I’m very optimistic, I think it will be done soon too, the planes will appear in Ukraine,” Kacher added.
The cost of February futures for Brent at London’s ICE Futures Exchange is $76.53 per barrel by 7:12 a.m. (approx. 0.57%) above the close of the previous session. At the close of trading last Friday those contracts fell by 5 cents (0.1%) to $76.1 a barrel.
The price of WTI futures for January at the electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is $71.59 per barrel by that time, which is $0.57 (0.8%) above the final value of the previous session. The contract fell by $0.44 (0.6%) to $71.2 per barrel at the end of last session.
Brent dropped by 11.1% and WTI by 11.2% at the end of last week. Both contracts ended trading at their lowest levels since December 2021.
Last week the main negative factor for oil quotes was concerns about the recession in the global economy and the demand for fuel in China.
Traders are afraid that amid data on high business activity in the U.S. and high inflation, the Fed will continue to adhere to tight monetary policy and will not hurry to reduce rates. This could slow economic growth in the United States and the world at large or even lead to a global recession, which would lower fuel demand.
Investors were also assessing the imposition of a price ceiling on Russian oil and news of an easing of coronavirus restrictions in China. DTV senior analyst Troy Vincent recalled the expression “buy on rumor, sell on fact,” and noted that last week was the time for facts.
Meanwhile, the number of active oil rigs in the U.S. fell by two last week to 625, oil services company Baker Hughes reported. The figure dropped for the first time in six weeks.
The Royal United Kingdom Mint has released a commemorative coin depicting Harry Potter, which will also be the last collector coin with the profile of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The 50-cent collector’s coin was released to mark the 25th anniversary of the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the first book about the boy wizard. It depicts the colorful Hogwarts Express, a special train that brings students to the school of wizardry.
There will be a total of four designs in the new Harry Potter coin collection: earlier this year, a coin depicting Potter himself was released, and in 2023 there will be coins with the Hogwarts School of Wizardry and its headmaster, Professor Dumbledore. The back of the coins released will feature the profile of Queen Elizabeth II, and the back of the coins awaiting release will feature the profile of Charles III.
“The Royal Mint’s collection of “Harry Potter” coins is a unique opportunity for collectors and fans of the series around the world,” said Rebecca Morgan, director of the Royal Mint’s Collectors Service. What makes these coins particularly valuable, she said, is that they will have images of different monarchs on the back. They “serve as a constant reminder of the fascinating transition of power from Britain’s longest reigning monarch in history.”
