Farmers 'forced to accept low prices' as the largest sugar factory in the Mekong Delta closes down.

In Hau Giang, sugarcane prices in the Mekong Delta region have fallen from 2,200-2,500 VND to 900-1,300 VND per kilogram, three weeks after the largest sugar factory there ceased operations.

Over the past few days, farmer Nguyen Van Buoi, 55 years old, from Tan Phuoc Hung commune, Phung Hiep district, has been very worried because the price of sugarcane has dropped rapidly, but traders are still haggling and refusing to buy it.

Farmers in Hau Giang province harvest sugarcane. Photo: An Binh — Farmers in Hau Giang province harvest sugarcane. Photo: *An Binh*

"In mid-October, traders came directly to the fields to buy sugarcane (for making beverages) at 2,300-2,500 VND per kilogram, but now it's only 1,100-1,200 VND per kilogram. Meanwhile, some traders buying raw sugarcane to sell to sugar factories in Tra Vinh are also paying 900-1,000 VND per kilogram, depending on the sugar content (an indicator of sugarcane quality)," Mr. Buoi said, adding that his family still has 0.5 hectares of sugarcane yet to be harvested, with a yield of about 60 tons. At the current price, he is losing more than one million VND in profit per ton of sugarcane.

Many farmers in Phung Hiep district have reported that for sugarcane fields where they had previously paid deposits at high prices, traders are now haggling, demanding lower prices before harvesting, otherwise they will forfeit their deposits (10-20 million VND for 50-100 tons). In some cases, traders send people into the farmers' fields to harvest a portion of the sugarcane and then abandon it. Afterward, these fields are difficult to sell, forcing farmers to lower prices.

According to Mr. Tran Van Tuan, Head of the Agriculture Department of Phung Hiep district, Hau Giang province, in the 2024 crop year, the locality still has 3,100 hectares of land planted with sugarcane (a decrease of nearly 3 times compared to 4 years ago), the largest area in the Mekong Delta.

"Currently, the locality still has nearly 1,000 hectares of sugarcane that have not been harvested, and prices are plummeting, causing farmers to lose significant profits," Mr. Tuan said, adding that traders are simultaneously driving down prices because the sugar factory in Phung Hiep (the largest in the Mekong Delta), with a capacity of 2,500 tons per day, has temporarily suspended operations for the 2023-2024 crop year, starting from October 25th.

Sugarcane growing area in Phung Hiep district, Hau Giang province. Photo: An Binh — Sugarcane growing area in Phung Hiep district, Hau Giang province. Photo: *An Binh*

In 2010-2011, Hau Giang province had the largest sugarcane growing area in the Mekong Delta with 15,000-16,000 hectares, mainly concentrated in Phung Hiep district and Vi Thanh city. The province had three large sugar factories operating at peak times in Long My town, Vi Thanh city, and Nga Bay city.

In the following years, low sugarcane prices led to unstable farmers' incomes, and the area under sugarcane cultivation gradually decreased. Currently, all three sugar factories have ceased operations due to a shortage of raw materials.

In 2010, the Mekong Delta had over 50,000 hectares of land planted with sugarcane, but now only about 15,000-16,000 hectares are used for this crop. The entire region, which once had 10 operating sugar factories, now only has 2 factories remaining, located in Tra Vinh and Soc Trang provinces.

An Binh

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