FIRS SLIGHTLY RAISES EC BEET SUGAR OUTPUT ESTIMATE The French sugar market intervention board, FIRS, raised its estimate of 1986/87 beet sugar production in the 12-member European Community to 13.76 mln tonnes white equivalent in its end-February report from 13.74 mln a month earlier. Its forecast for total EC sugar production, including cane and molasses, rose to 14.10 mln tonnes from 14.09 mln. Portugal, which joined the Community in January 1986, was estimated at 12.75 mln tonnes white equivalent, unchanged from the previous forecast and compared with 12.41 mln tonnes for 1985/86. Production for the current campaign in Spain was higher than reported last month at 1.03 mln tonnes compared with 997,000 tonnes. Beet sugar production, expressed as white equivalent, was estimated at 3.44 mln tonnes in France, 3.17 mln tonnes in West Germany, 1.72 mln in Italy, 1.30 mln in Britain, 1.22 mln in the Netherlands, 936,000 tonnes in Belgium/Luxembourg, 499,000 in Denmark, 287,000 in Greece, 183,000 in Ireland and 4,000 in Portugal.