A grower loads harvested sugar cane onto a truck at a field in Suphan Buri province (Photo: bangkokpost.com)Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand posted a net sugar output in the 2015-16 sugar cane harvest at 9.7 million tonnes, produced from 94 million tonnes of sugar cane, lower than the previous crop.
The productivity was well below the 10.3 million tonnes of sugar garnered from more than 106 million tonnes of sugar cane in the 2014-15 crop, according to the Thai Ministry of Commerce.
The decrease was blamed on the recent severe drought, which has cut sugar cane output as well as the sugar content of sugar cane.
The ministry has forecast that the output will remain poor in the next 2016-17 crop as Thailand is set to face more bad weather.
Insiders said falling sugar production in major producing countries such as Brazil and Thailand – the world’s leading sugar exporters – have helped push up global sugar prices, fuelling sugar smuggling to neighbouring nations like Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, where rapid economic growth is expected.
The commerce ministry said of the total 9.7 million tonnes of sugar produced this season, around 2.6 million tonnes were allocated for domestic consumption, known as Quota A.
However, Quota A seems to be insufficient for domestic consumption this year as consumers have started complaining about sugar supply shortages in some areas along the outskirts of Bangkok.-VNA
