Ukraine's Astarta ups sugar production 6% in 2022 season

MOSCOW. Jan 11 (Interfax) - Agro-industrial holding Astarta, Ukraine's largest producer of sugar, has completed the 2022 sugar production season, processing around 2 million tonnes sugar beet, Ukrainian media reported, quoting a statement posted on the holding's website.

Astarta produced 282,000 tonnes of white sugar, up 6% from the 2021 season and 25% more than in 2020.

"The 2022 processing season was the best in terms of processed volumes and sugar output compared to the previous two years. At the same time, this season was the most difficult in the entire history of the company," Astarta said.

Astarta's share in the Ukrainian sugar market amounted to 25%, according to preliminary Ukrtsukor data.

The sugar beet acreage, mainly located in the Central and Western regions of Ukraine, did not suffer significant losses directly from the military operations, but Ukrainian sugar beet producers faced many other challenges, Astarta said.

"Due to increased costs of fertilizers, plant protection products and fuel, the cost of sugar beet cultivation has increased. Almost continuous rains during the harvesting period significantly complicated both harvesting and transportation of sugar beets from the fields to processing plants," said Yevgeny Sadovoi, director of agricultural processing.

Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding with sugar refineries, a land bank, dairy farms, an oil extraction plant, silos and a biogas complex.