Sweet times ahead for sugar industry
The sugar industry should enjoy better times next year, as it is expecting between 60 million and 65 million tonnes of cane from farmers this fiscal year, compared with only 48 million tonnes the year before.
Thai Sugar Miller Co Ltd's chairman Prakit Pradipasen said many millers are hoping to be more profitable as a combined result of increased sugar cane planting and hikes in world prices. He said prices have risen globally this year and are expected to continue to do so, due mainly to the significant role of the Global Sugar Alliance (GSA), whose members comprise nine major sugar producers and exporters, including Brazil, India, Australia and Thailand. The GSA has pressured EU countries to reduce sugar industry subsidies in accordance with World Trade Organisation rules, and this has resulted in decreased sugar exports from the EU. Prakit said the high world sugar prices would encourage Thai farmers to grow more sugar cane. They are currently earning an average of Bt800 per tonne for cane at the factory, up from Bt680 last year. Some millers are paying as much as Bt1,000 per tonne for cane. A director of Thai Sugar Miller Co, Pichai Kanivichaporn, said the increased cane supplies would not overwhelm local production capacity. Currently, the country's 46 sugar millers have a total production capacity of 720,000 tonnes per day.
Watcharapong Thongrung The Nation
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