Ministry predicts greater rise in sugar prices

The price of sugar would continue to increase in the run up to Tet and through the first quarter of 2011 due to an expected sugar shortage, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

High demand for raw materials and the Viet Nam Sugar Association’s predicted shortage of 300,000 tonnes of sugar in 2011, as well as the increase in the world sugar price, may push the price of sugar cane and sugar up on the domestic market in the near future, said the ministry.

Sugar currently stands at VND22,000-25,800 per kilo on the domestic market while the world sugar price is at a record high of US$800 per tonne.

However, the association expected local supply to reach 150,000 – 170,000 tonnes this month and increase further in the first quarter of next year to meet domestic demand by next May, said the association general secrectary Ha Huu Phai.

The ministry has also permitted enterprises to import 250,000 tonnes of sugar to meet the high demand for the up comingTet holidays.

The association estimated that domestic production would reach 1 million tonnes of sugar for the 2010-11 crop, higher than the output of 889,000 tonnes for the 2009-10 crop. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam sugar, Vietnam Sugar Prices