At many traditional markets in Hanoi such as Kham Thien market, Lang market, Nghia Tan market, Phung Khoang market... the retail price of Bien Hoa white sugar is at 28,000 VND/kg, Lam Son white sugar is at 25,000 VND/kg.
Ms. Tran Thi Thu, a trader at Kham Thien market, said: “Since Tet, the price of Bien Hoa granulated sugar has increased by 7,000 VND/kg, and the price of Lam Son white sugar has increased by 5,500 VND/kg. The reason is that domestic sugar consumption demand is high while imported sugar sources are limited, and domestic factories have finished their season.”
Sugar prices hit record high. (Illustration photo).
Mr. Tran Ngoc Hieu, General Director of Son La Sugarcane Joint Stock Company informed: “In the last sugarcane crop, the sugar factory was affected by the weather, so the output decreased by more than 20%. Currently, our products have been sold out and the factory is in the preparation stage for the new crop”.
Mr. Le Van Tan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lam Son Sugar Company, said that the record high world sugar price has caused the domestic sugar price to increase accordingly. In addition, in recent times, domestic sugar has lost its value due to the situation of smuggled sugar from Thailand being sold at a dumping price. Currently, better control has been implemented, the amount of smuggled sugar from Thailand has decreased, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has imposed anti-dumping tax on cane sugar from Thailand, etc., so the sugar price in Vietnam has increased again.
Responding to VTC News , a leader of the Vietnam Sugarcane and Sugar Association commented that although domestic sugar prices are increasing sharply, this increase is still lower than the increase in world sugar prices and is among the lowest in Southeast Asia.
According to this person, this is the time Vietnam should consider encouraging the restoration of sugarcane cultivation, especially in the Mekong Delta region.
People are taking care of sugarcane in preparation for harvest to produce sugar (Photo: Investment Newspaper).
According to the Sugarcane Association, the Vietnamese sugar industry has gone through a difficult period for many consecutive years. From February 2011 to August 2019, sugar prices decreased by more than 60%, causing the sugar industry to face numerous difficulties.
The area of raw material areas is continuously shrinking, the domestic sugar production output is continuously decreasing, not only under the general impact of world sugar prices through subsidy and support policies from exporting countries but also directly affected by cheap sugar smuggled across the border from Thailand.
However, the 2022-2023 crop year has recorded some positive developments for the sugar industry. Accordingly, since the lowest price set in the 2019/20 crop year, by the 2022/23 crop year, the world sugar price has increased by 160%, reducing the amount of cheap sugar imported into Vietnam, thereby improving domestic sugar prices.
In June 2023, the Vietnamese sugar industry completed the 2022/23 sugarcane pressing season. The cumulative output since the beginning of the season has been 9,714,224 tons of sugarcane, producing 941,373 tons of sugar of all kinds. Compared to the same period in the 2021-2022 sugarcane pressing season, the sugarcane pressing output reached 129% and the sugar output reached 126%. Compared to the same period in the 2020/21 sugarcane pressing season, the sugarcane pressing output reached 144% and the sugar output reached 136%.
Production growth in two consecutive crops shows that Vietnam's sugar industry has recovered significantly under the impact of trade defense measures that the Vietnamese government has applied since 2021.
Not only that, the price movement of Vietnamese sugar compared to neighboring countries in the first 6 months of the year also shows that Vietnamese sugar prices are always at the lowest level.
PHAM DUY
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