Der Markt für Zucker

Abstract

Sugar MarketFollowing rich crops in almost all bigger producer countries estimated world sugar stocks have increased over the marketing year 2001/02 and destroyed hopes for future world prices to slowly increase. Expectations that China would fill its tariff quota of some 1.76 mt did not materialise. China and Russia are obviously aiming at increased self sufficiency, Brazil took advantage of both a big sugar cane crop and a devalued Real/Dollar currency rate, and some sugar importing countries made investments in refinery plants - all those developments tending to increase competition at the world white sugar market where the EU is normally disposing of its sugar surplus. Moreover, the hitherto well protected EU sugar market is slowly coming under stiffening pressure: the WTO restrictions concerning export subsidies are binding, under the EBA agreement some developing countries will get a chance to export sugar into the EU, and Brasil and Australia challenge EU subsidised sugar exports before the WTO.