EU agricultural co-operative Copa & Cogeca have sent a letter to the EU Commission this week urging them to stop plans to increase the supply of sugar to the EU market, warning that consumption is stable and physical stocks are sufficient.
Copa-Cogeca Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen stressed: "I do not see any justification for the EU Commission to table proposals to increase supply of sugar on the EU market by as much as 300,000 - 400,000 tonnes as there is no risk that the EU will suffer from a lack of sugar.
"Moreover, access to the European sugar market for non-EU suppliers has doubled in a decade thanks to the numerous concessions granted in bilateral trade agreements.
"What's more, forecasts for the 2016/2017 marketing year predict that the area under sugar beet in the EU will rise by at least 7% and that processing will begin well before 1st October.
"The average price of white sugar in the EU has also been stagnating for over a year now and fell by €2 between January and February."
"On top of this, European beet growers reduced their area under beet by more than 10% during the 2015/2016 marketing year in order to rebalance market forces in the sugar sector.
"A decision from the European Commission to introduce exceptional market management measures in the sugar sector would run counter to these decisions made by European beet growers.
"Copa and Cogeca therefore call on the EU Commission not to table a proposal for a regulation on exceptional market management measures in the sugar sector at the next Sugar Management Committee meeting on 26th May," he concluded.
