The Vietnam Sugar and Sugar Cane Association (VSSA) said that sugar prices of local companies are now around VND12,500 per kilo while early this month sugar smuggled from Thailand in the Mekong Delta was sold at VND11,500-11,600 per kilo.
The price of sugar shipped to China, meanwhile, is standing at VND13,100 per kilo.
Last year, around 400,000 tons of Thai sugar was brought illegally into Vietnam and VSSA predicted that this year, the figure is likely to be higher as Thailand is expected to reach a record sugar output with 11.3 million tons this year while its sugar prices are now on a downtrend.
According to VSSA, the amount of sugar smuggled from Thailand into Vietnam varies from time to time depending on how effectively the anti-smuggling force of Vietnam works.
This year, China is predicted to lack sugar for its domestic use and is expected to import 2.1 million tons.
Another reason for the local sugar firms to boost exports to China is the increasing sugar inventory at home.
By end-February, the sugar inventory in Vietnam had climbed to more than 514,000 tons, up around 100,000 tons over the same time last year.
Recently, VSSA has asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to allow domestic firms to export around 300,000-400,000 tons of sugar to China this year after the Ministry had earlier set an export quota of 200,000 tons while pending data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on sugar supply and demand at home.
Last month, the Ministry of Industry and Trade also officially set the quotas for imported sugar for this year at 77,200 tons compared to 73,500 tons of last year. The import is made under Vietnam’s commitments with the World Trade Organization.
The 77,200 tons of sugar, including both refined sugar and crude sugar, will be processed into refined sugar before being sold in the domestic market.
Đăng ký: VietNam News
