EU sugar beet harvest going well, larger output expected

HAMBURG, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The European Union's sugar beet harvest is progressing well and a sharp rise in sugar production is expected, experts said on Thursday.

German commodity analysts F.O. Licht estimate EU refined sugar production in the current 2016-17 season will be 15.3 million tonnes, up from 13.8 million tonnes last year and excluding sugar beet used for bioethanol.

"The harvest and production outlook is generally satisfactory but varies greatly between countries partly because there were different trends in plantings," F.O. Licht analyst Stefan Uhlenbrock said.

"Some countries such as Britain and Spain have reduced beet sowing while the area under cultivation was raised significantly in Poland, the Netherlands and Sweden, and to a smaller degree percentage-wise in top producers France and Germany."

In France, beet harvesting is in full swing with the first results showing better than expected yields due to high sugar content. More than 70 percent of the beet crop has been harvested and work is expected to be over at the end of the month, said Alain Jeanroy, head of beet growers group CGB.

CGB estimates this year's sugar beet yield at about 86 tonnes per hectare (t/ha) up from a preliminary estimate of 85 t/ha before the harvest.

Germany's refined sugar output will come in at 3.83 million tonnes, up more than 30 percent from the previous season's poor crop helped by an increase in sowing, German sugar industry association WVZ estimated.

"The sugar harvest and sugar production have up to now been running normally," WVZ Chief Executive Guenter Tissen said.

"We are on schedule and about half way through the harvest with between 40 to 60 percent of beets now harvested depending on the region. I expect the harvest to be finished in January, inside a normal timeframe."

Britain's sugar beet harvest is progressing well although production should decline after less beet was sown.

"The UK campaign started in early October and is making steady progress with excellent harvesting conditions," said Colm McKay, agriculture director of UK producer British Sugar.

"We estimate 40 percent of the crop has been harvested to date and sugar content has continued to rise since the start of the campaign," he said.

A sharp rise in refined sugar output is expected in Poland with good yields expected, said Rafal Strachota, deputy director of Polish sugar beet growers' association KZPBC.

Poland's refined sugar production should rise to about 2 million tonnes from 1.46 million last year, he said.

"Harvesting is making good progress," Strachota said. (Reporting by Michael Hogan, Sybille de La Hamaide and Nigel Hunt; editing by David Clarke)