Six sugar plants complete 2025/26 season. Ukrsugar explains what makes it unique, and why it’s challenging

As of December 5, six member plants of the Ukrsugar National Association of Sugar Producers have completed the 2025/26 sugar-processing season, Ukrsugar head Yana Kavushevska told Latifundist.com.

Despite the reduction in planted area, sugar beet yields turned out higher than last year. According to Ukrsugar, this year’s yield exceeds 58 t/ha.

Meanwhile, data from the Ministry of Economy shows a slightly lower figure — 53.3 t/ha. As of December 4, growers harvested 10.4 million tons of sugar beets (98%).

This production season has been complicated primarily by difficult weather conditions — excessive rainfall, especially in Vinnytsia and Khmelnytsky regions, which disrupted the delivery of sugar beets to factories.

“This season we even had cases when factories had to stop for several days because it was impossible to deliver raw materials for processing,” Kavushevska said.

In mid-October, two out of five sugar factories in Vinnytsia region temporarily suspended work due to raw material shortages. Farmers were unable to harvest sugar beets because of persistent rain and oversaturated soils.

Both harvesting and transporting the beets remain problematic.

“The difficulty is that first the beets must be dug out — which is extremely hard when the soil is waterlogged. Essentially, you’re harvesting not just beets but beets covered in a significant amount of mud. Then these beets must be transported along field roads to paved surfaces. Oversaturated soil makes it nearly impossible to transport them without using heavy tractors to tow the trucks,” she explained.

She added that even when beet piles are located along paved roads, problems arise if a truck needs to drive into the field for loading — in such cases, tractors must also be used for towing.

Despite Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, electricity restrictions have not significantly affected the industry, according to Kavushevska.

Sugar factories require electricity mainly for start-up; afterward, they switch to their own generation. Instead, stable access to natural gas — which most factories rely on — remains crucial, she said.

So far, gas supply has not posed any issues. Some factories are already finishing the sugar-processing season, which traditionally lasts 3–4 months.

“We hope that in terms of natural gas supply, we will be able to finish the season as planned,” she added.

According to Ukrsugar, as of December 1, factories produced 1.25 million tons of sugar, and the season forecast of 1.5–1.6 million tons is expected to be met. Currently, 20 factories are operating within the association, while six have completed the season.

Ukraine’s largest sugar producer, Radekhiv Sugar, launched its processing season on September 16. Last year, it accounted for 31% of national sugar production.