Many sugarcane producers in Vietnam are facing difficulties in arranging stable supply sources due to cutthroat domestic competition.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has decided to allocate tariff quotas for 113,000 tons of imported sugar via auction.

The anti-dumping tax on sugar is set to be applied soon which will help sugarcane businesses sell goods and make profits.

Trade remedies have helped the domestic sugar production industry to recover and farmers to stabilise production, according to experts.

Sugar producers expect the 2021-2022 crop, which is starting from July 1, will be more prosperous. 

Many sugar mills have had to shut down because they cannot compete with imports.

The domestic sugar industry looks brighter in 2021 on the effort to control smuggling and the imposition of duties on sugar imported from Thailand.

The sugar industry is facing many challenges and unfair competition from imported and smuggled goods, experts told a conference held in Hanoi on December 1.

Farmers in the Mekong Delta have started to harvest raw material sugarcane from the beginning of October. However, up to now, the remaining three factories in the region have not operated yet.

The sugar industry will have greater development opportunities if it can re-organise itself more effectively, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said at a meeting on Tuesday.

The weaknesses of the domestic sugar industry and the negative impact from the world sugar market may cause the industry to suffer a new "shock" when ATIGA (ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement) comes into force.

Trade fraud and large-scale smuggling in the last two years have led to closure of than one-third of sugar mills in Vietnam, and many sugarcane fields have been left uncultivated.

The sugar industry is experiencing stormy days as prices have dropped dramatically. However, some companies are thriving and plan to ‘swallow’ their rivals.

VietNamNet Bridge - With profits down and inventory up, sugar companies are in their most difficult period of the last 15 years.

The Vietnam Sugar & Sugarcane Association (VSSA) has asked the government to delay the removal of the sugar import quota to 2022 instead of 2018 as committed in ATIGA. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Sugar production – the industry which now enjoys the highest protection level from the State – is expected to ‘die’ when Vietnam cuts the sugar import tariff to five percent in 2018 as committed.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Radical reforms including mergers and introduction of new technologies are needed to help the domestic sugar industry sustain its growth as the country deepens its international integration.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Phan Thanh Long, head of the Viet Nam Sugar and Sugarcane Association, told Thoi Bao Kinh Te (VN Economic Times) about the revival of the industry.

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