The massive arrival of Ukrainian sugar in the EU crystallizes concerns

The increase in imports of Ukrainian sugar onto the Community market is worrying the European sugar industry. In mid-2022, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the EU effectively lifted all customs duties and import quotas for Ukrainian agricultural products, to support the country's economic activity. “It is support for Kiyv and an internal parade to prevent European consumers from lacking sugar (the EU sugar deficit is between two and three million tonnes, Editor’s note). This allows us not to be totally dependent on the Brazilian supplier,” note in this regard Sébastien Abis and Thierry Pouch in their recent work Geopolitics of Sugar. While Ukraine had for several seasons been subject to a sugar import quota of around 20,000 t annually to the EU, the flow then increased. A lot of scale: for the export campaign running from October 2022 to September 2023, the country shipped 406,800 t of white sugar to the European market, compared to an average of around 21,700 t over the three ...