The long-awaited rainfall, which began in mid-October, has, as a ‘side effect’, slowed down or delayed the harvesting campaign for second-group crops. This includes sugar beet. One of the two sugar factories managed to harvest its relatively small crop in its raw material zone before the prolonged rains set in, whilst the other halted harvesting whilst awaiting favourable weather.

Given the scenario of last autumn’s harvest, when there were no sufficiently long periods of good weather until spring, it is difficult to judge which of the sugar companies has been luckier at present. ‘You count your chickens in the autumn’: the first has arrived In response to an enquiry from Logos Press, a spokesperson for the administration of the Polish-Moldovan sugar producer ‘Moldova Zahăr’ (factory in Kupchin) confirmed that ‘the beet harvest was completed last week’. However, he neither confirmed nor denied the rumours circulating in Moldova’s sugar market regarding the preliminary results of the raw material processing campaign at this plant.

According to initial estimates by market operators, ‘Moldova Zahăr’ contracted around 1,500 hectares of sugar beet plantations, processed over 40,000 tonnes of the raw material and produced approximately 5,800–6,500 tonnes of sugar. According to preliminary data, the average yield was around 34 tonnes per hectare.

The second is underway Earlier, the German-Moldovan company Sudzucker Moldova (with a factory in Drochia) reported that, in partnership with 30 agricultural partners, it plans to harvest around 270,000 tonnes of sugar beet from 6,300 hectares of beet fields. At the start of the harvest period, the average yield in the company’s raw material zone, according to its representatives, stood at 40–43 tonnes per hectare.

They expected that as the harvest progressed, the yield would rise to 45–47 tonnes per hectare. In an interview with a Logos Press correspondent, a representative of the Ministry of Agriculture’s MAIA Plant Production Policy Department noted that, as early as the end of last week, the sugar beet harvest had been suspended due to rain. It is likely that at least a week of dry weather will be required before the heavy beet harvesters can return to the fields. Yields did indeed exceed 40 tonnes per hectare at the start of the harvest, but subsequently fell significantly below that level.

However, prior to the rainy spell, industry operators had noted a high sugar content in the roots – up to 18 per cent. It is not yet clear how the beets will fare in wet soil in late October and early November. It is not yet possible to assess the outcome of the production season. This is all the more so given the, in a sense, unfortunate experience of the sugar factories last autumn, when, due to prolonged rainfall, the beet harvest from approximately 1,900 hectares of plantations was not gathered (and was lost). Discrepancies in crop estimates Discrepancies in estimates have been evident since the start of the season and have not yet been resolved.

It is worth recalling that during the October meeting of the advisory council under the Ministry of Agriculture, the Association of Sugar Beet Producers of Moldova (APSZM) stated that in 2026, sugar beet plantings in the country totalled around 8,300 hectares. Meanwhile, in early June – when all reasonable deadlines for sowing sugar beet had long since passed – the National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova released its figures on the area under sugar beet for the 2026 harvest: 7,800 hectares. This, in principle, is consistent with the figures announced by sugar producers. A spokesperson for the relevant department at MAIA clarified to Logos Press that, in its policy regarding the sugar beet sector – including the policy on subsidising sugar beet cultivation on a ‘per hectare of crop’ basis – the ministry in particular and the government as a whole ‘will be guided by statistical data’. Sugar price trends Price trends are positive – for sugar sellers (whilst sugar buyers, particularly industrial buyers, are on the verge of alarm and panic). As market operators note, over the past two weeks, wholesale sugar prices in Moldova have risen by 0.5 lei/kg – from 15.5 to 16 lei/kg on average. For enterprises, which are waging an uncompromising battle to reduce production costs amidst rising prices for all production inputs, this is significant.

According to Ruslan Georgice, a specialist in beet sugar production, at current production cost levels, the break-even price for sugar from the 2026 beet harvest is above 20 lei per kilogram. Prospects for subsidies and taxation in the beet sugar sector The outlook is more unfavourable than unclear (in fact, at present, it is both). At a recent meeting with the heads of agri-food organisations, Prime Minister Vasile Tofan explained in rather blunt terms that there is currently no money in the budget for ‘per-hectare’ subsidies, and that, in principle, he is not convinced that it makes sense for the state to subsidise this sector of Moldova’s agri-food industry. At the same time, the government’s draft VAT reform for the agri-food sector provides for a VAT rate of 12 per cent on sugar beet and 20 per cent on sugar. At present, a flat rate of 8 per cent applies to the sugar beet sector. This is a painful situation for sugar beet growers. Not only in terms of the prospect of losing additional income that was already ‘as good as in the bag’, but also in terms of their future prospects in general. Last year, when ‘per-hectare’ subsidies for sugar beet crops and compensation for losses due to replanting were very much a reality, the reported area under sugar beet fell by almost 28 per cent. In light of recent events, the downward trend in sugar beet cultivation is likely to continue and intensify in the coming season. There is another important consideration. Modern sugar beet farming requires expensive and highly specialised machinery, in particular sugar beet harvesters. In Moldova, many of these machines have largely reached the end of their useful life, and renewing the fleet of such machinery requires very significant funds and, above all, compelling justifications. Room for compromise In the absence of funds for subsidies and tax incentives, local sugar producers and certain ministries are seeking a compromise between the collapse and survival of Moldova’s sugar beet sector by restricting sugar imports. Well-informed sources claim that a new draft regulation on preferential sugar imports (from non-EU countries) is almost ready and may soon be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers for approval. At present, sugar can be imported into Moldova under free trade arrangements from CEFTA countries (Serbia) and CIS countries (Belarus). Market operators are making use of this opportunity, but cautiously – so as not to be accused of flooding the Moldovan market with large quantities of ‘cheap sugar’. In place of this ‘self-regulated freedom’, it is proposed to impose an administrative restriction on sugar imports from CEFTA, setting a quota of up to 10,000 tonnes per year. Imports from the CIS, according to the draft, are to be subject to even stricter limits. In the context of recent events, this is logical. A pro-European political project won the parliamentary elections in Serbia. Consequently, the Moldovan authorities’ identical approach to trade with Serbia and Belarus may, in a sense, be perceived by influential centres of geopolitical decision-making as strategically short-sighted. The quota for duty-free sugar imports from the European Union is expected to remain at its ‘pre-crisis level’ – around 9,000 tonnes per year. Nevertheless, the situation on Moldova’s sugar market is paradoxical. Firstly, Moldova’s own sugar production this season is unlikely to significantly exceed 40,000 tonnes – this is roughly two-thirds of domestic market demand (estimated at between 70,000 and 75,000 tonnes, depending on the assessors’ estimates). Secondly, the remaining stocks of last year’s sugar held by local producers and traders are a ‘terra incognita’. Thirdly, the projected global sugar deficit for the 2026/27 marketing year is increasing. Importing countries are already beginning to compete for (as yet) relatively inexpensive and readily available sugar supplies.

Meanwhile, the Moldovan government is concerned with how to restrict sugar imports into the country. Industrial sugar consumers have always viewed potential restrictions on sugar imports – both in the past and now – as a sure-fire catalyst for a rise in the wholesale price of this product (which, in their case, is a production input). A liberal-minded government would undoubtedly regard a regime restricting sugar imports as a painful ‘departure from principles and values’.

For everyone involved, supporting the viability of the domestic beet sugar industry is becoming not even a ‘suitcase without a handle’ – on which one can sit comfortably if necessary – but a ‘stool with only one leg’.

Source: logos-press.md