Sugar industry no longer sweetens anyone

Ministry of Agriculture is willing to cut by 4% sugar quota for 2008-2009
Agrostar: Areas planted with sugar beet would diminish, and sugar price would increase by 5 - 10%

Employers try to maintain beet share at national level and avoid abandonment of production.

Sugar industry is currently going through a confuse stage as regards its capacities to develop and to keep to European standards. In this context, the reduction in the number of sugar factories, the lack of a clear law on granting subsidies to beet growers, as well as the numerous polemics about the sugar quota to be set by the European Commission for our country, all contribute to a drop in domestic production. In addition, sugar producers are subject to many other problems, which other industries must also face. In addition, the President of the National Federation of Trade Unions in the Food Industry (FSIA), Dragoş Frumosu, said for the Curierul Naţional that sugar industry was facing ''visible problems'', which could be easily seen.

''One can notice that, as against 1990, when there were about 33 sugar factories, now we can talk only about 6-7 factories and this is not gladdening'', said Frumosu.
At the same time, there are problems in terms of labour in the sector, as well as the fact that the beet growers in our country are not supported by the state representatives.

In addition, the Agrostar Federation claims that the Ministry of Agriculture requests, by a draft order, to cut the sugar quota allocated to Romania by the European Union, by 4% of the total, this leading to a reduction of the beet-cultivated areas, as well as to an increase in sugar price by about 5-10%. In response to the Agrostar release, Elena Tatomir, director within the MADR, told NewsIn that this would not raise the price of sugar for the final consumer, and the area planted with sugar beet this year would remain unchanged, as compared to 2007-2008, when 25,000 hectares were planted.

Romania obtained, after negotiations with the European Union, ''a single quota of 329,000 tonnes of raw sugar for processing, and a quota of almost 105,000 tonnes for beet'', said the Sugar Employers' President. In this way, the producing companies comply with these quotas, however having a margin of error, so that whatever they produce above the imposed limit can be deposited for the following year. Romania consumes annually about 550,000 tonnes of sugar, the needs being covered from both the domestic production and imports of white and raw sugar.

The raw sugar, imported and subsequently processed in Romania, covers about 85% of domestic consumption.
SOURCE:curierulnational.ro