Ukrainian farmers sour on sugar,

Ukrainian farmers sour on sugar, as world prices lag at barely half the levels of two years ago. Next spring, the area planted in sugar beets could be down by 25%, according to Uktsukor, the National Association of Sugar Producers. This year’s area, 280,000 hectares, was down 13% from last year. The number of operating sugar refineries could fall to 38 in 2019, from 46 in 2017. Sugar exports were down 27% in the marketing year ended in August, to 560,400 tons of sugar. Ukrtsukor says: “The global market continues to be surplus, and this directly affects the reduction of sugar exports.”