Astarta: sugar sales up by 44% in Q1 2020
17 April 2020
Astarta, a vertically integrated agroholding operating 250,000 hectares of farmland in Ukraine, increased its sugar sales 44% to 77,560 tonnes in the first quarter of 2020 (Q1 2020). The average sugar price fell 1% to $359/tonne within the same period of time.
Wheat sales decreased 68% to 3,400 tonnes in Q1 2020, as compared to Q1 2019. Corn sales went down 17% to 235,900 tonnes (Q1 2019 - 282,640 tonnes). The average prices for wheat and corn dropped 24% and 6% to $170/tonne and $165/tonne, respectively. The sales of oilseeds decreased in the reporting period as well. In particular, sunflower sales fell 99% to 69 tonnes. The sales of soybean oil were cut 22% to 11,140 tonnes.
Astarta’s dairy segment also followed the downward trend in Q1 2020. Milk sales amounted to 24,000 tonnes, a 9% decrease as compared to Q4 2019 (26,020 tonnes). In 2019, Astarta’s sugar exports fell 85% to 20,000 tons due to the drop in the global sugar prices.