Egypt’s Focus on Local Sugar Is Bad News for European Exports
- Egypt’s beet-sugar output seen rising 16% in 2020-21 season
- Nation has also extended an import ban through November
Egypt expects its beet-sugar output will rise 16% to 1.45 million tons next year as farmers expand plantings.
Photographer: Nariman El-Mofty/AP Photos
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After a drought and crop disease, add a shrinking export market to the list of headaches for the beleaguered European sugar industry.
The European Union -- which saw its white-sugar shipments slump to an almost decade-low last season -- now faces the prospect of losing a major export market as Egypt bolsters local output and cracks down on imports. The North African nation was the EU’s second-biggest export market just two years ago. Sales there dropped to a four-year low last season and risk falling even more.