Ukrainian Sugar Producers Have Their Export Quotas to the EU Reduced Until 2025

Ukraine has received a significant reduction in its duty-free sugar export quotas to the European Union: only 12,075 tons of product are allowed to be supplied until December 2025. This volume is considerably lower compared to previous years, which came as a surprise to domestic sugar producers.

This is reported by AgroReview

Export Trends and Supply Geography

In 2023, Ukrainian sugar accounted for approximately one-third of the structure of this product’s imports into the EU, alongside supplies from Brazil, Mauritius, Guatemala, Colombia, and Eswatini, which collectively provided the European Union with over 1 million tons of sugar. At the same time, Ukrainian sugar producers faced logistical constraints that affected the geography of their exports.

According to the head of the National Association of Sugar Producers of Ukraine “Ukrtsukor,” Yana Kavushevska, in 2023, the share of exports to the EU was 98%, but by 2024, this figure had dropped to 40% due to a focus on global markets. In 2025, the presence of Ukrainian sugar in the EU is expected to decrease to 36%.

Searching for Alternative Markets

“In 2022, we exported 175,000 tons of sugar to the EU, in 2023 — 493,000 tons, and in 2024 — 301,000 tons. The difference is significant. The EU market is convenient for us due to the possibility of delivering sugar by land transport. From this perspective, markets in other European countries that are not EU members are of interest to Ukrainian sugar producers. In recent years, North Macedonia has been one of the main export destinations,” Kavushevska noted.

Restrictions from the EU are forcing Ukrainian producers to actively seek new sales markets. Special attention is being paid to European countries that are not EU members, among which North Macedonia has played a significant role in the export structure in recent years.