Deal to settle sugar farmers' debts
The Wang Kanai Group must transfer 77,000 tonnes of sugar to the Cane and Sugar Board in return for its efforts in settling its debts to farmers, says Deputy Industry Minister Piyabutr Cholvijarn.
"The calculation is based on the current sugar price. Of the total, 90 per cent will come from the quota for domestic sales and the rest from the export quota," Piyabutr said. The Industry Ministry will next week ask for Cabinet endorsement for the sugar board to borrow Bt752 million from the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives to settle the sugar mill's debts to farmers. After talking to representatives from the Thailand Sugar-cane Planters' Federation (TSPF) yesterday, Piyabutr said it would take the board about 8 months to sell the sugar. "We won't sell the stocks in a big lot, because we don't want to distort the market price for sugar," he added. He said he had assigned the board to enforce stricter measures to ensure that sugar mills nationwide did not suffer a similar situation. The board's borrowing plan was initiated after more than 7,000 farmers could not be paid for their sugar cane. Cane and Sugar Board secretary-general Ratanaporn Chuengsanguansit said it would reveal Wang Kanai's financial status to sugar-cane farmers before next year's harvesting season.
Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul The Nation
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