MOSCOW (Bloombergs) – Sugar producers of the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus plan to increase output of the sweetener 20% to 6.7 million metric tons by 2020 from 2011, Russia’s Sugar Producers’ Union said on its website.

The increase will be achieved through better sugar-beet growing and storage technologies, the union said, citing its Chairman Andrei Bodin.

Kazakhstan Centrifugal Sugar Production by Year

Unit: 1000 MT

At the end of 2009, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia set up a Customs Union with common import tariffs, which are to become effective as of 1^st January 2010. As a result, the world economy is witnessing the creation of a new common market with a combined population of 170 million people. In sugar terms, the new economic entity consumes nearly 6.2 million tonnes a year, while the domestic production still does not exceed 4 million tonnes. This makes the new Custom Union an important driver of the world sugar market with regard to import demand. Although the first year of the Custom’s Union’s existence proved challenging for the industry due to a severe summer drought, the harmonization of the sugar markets of three countries showed signs of successes.