BEGHIN-SAY NOT PLANNING TO WITHDRAW SUGAR
French sugar producer Beghin-Say is not
currently planning to withdraw the sugar it has placed into
intervention, despite the exceptionally high rebate awarded at
this week's European Community (EC) sugar tender, Beghin-Say
President Jean-Marc Vernes told Reuters.
    The maximum rebate of 46.864 Ecus per 100 kilos on
Wednesday was the largest ever granted, according to traders.
    Vernes said he was satisfied the European Commission has
started to move in the right direction, but said his company
had no plans to change its decision to put sugar into
intervention.
    But Vernes said he hoped that in the next few weeks a final
agreement would be reached with the commission which would
allow operators to withdraw the sugar from intervention.
    European operators offered 854,000 tonnes of sugar into
intervention to protest about export rebates which they say are
too low. Over 785,000 tonnes of this sugar was accepted by the
commission on Wednesday, according to commission sources.
    Under EC regulations, however, operators have another four
to five weeks to withdraw the sugar from intervention before
payment is made for it.
    A total of 706,470 tonnes of French sugar and 79,000 tonnes
of West German sugar has been accepted into intervention, trade
sources said here. This amount represents about a third of
annual EC exports to non-EC countries.
    Beghin-Say declined to specify the amount of sugar it had
offered into intervention, but said it was below 500,000
tonnes.
    Producers say they have been losing 2.5 to 3.0 Ecus on
every 100 kilos exported due to the failure of rebates to fully
bridge the gap between EC and world prices. Wednesday's rebate
was 0.87 Ecus short of what producers say is needed to get an
equivalent price to that for sales into intervention, traders
said.
    Vernes said operators hope to get a rebate which equates to
the full intervention price and said Wednesday's tender was a
step in the right direction.
    Sugar producers here said the volume of sugar authorised
for export since the begining of the current campaign had been
inadequate and that more should be exported now to compensate.
    Trade sources said new regulations governing export
rebates, which are due to be adopted shortly, may smooth the
path for the commission to award larger export rebates in
future.
    One source at a leading French sugar house said it seemed
the commission had understood the protest action and was now
moving towards adapting the situation accordingly, thereby
allowing the operators to withdraw their sugar from
intervention once they got satisfaction.
 REUTER
