As of the end of last month, sugar inventories surged to 670,000 tons, given the rising volume of smuggled sugar in the domestic market, Lao Dong newspaper reported, citing data from the Vietnam Sugarcane and Sugar Association (VSSA).

A worker checks sugar in stock at a sugar plant. According to VSSA, sugar inventories surged to 670,000 tons, as of the end of last month

The mounting sugar stockpile was also attributed to the unsold amount being carried forward from the previous year’s crop.

Market management agencies have detected and seized 100 tons of smuggled sugar from an enterprise in Quang Nam Province. VSSA Chairman Pham Quoc Doanh said large volumes of smuggled sugar have hindered the operations of domestic sugar firms.

Domestic sugar producers have reduced their sugar prices to the low prices offered for smuggled sugar to help ease the glut.

One foreign-invested plant has negotiated a deal with farmers to use sugar to pay for materials. Some enterprises are unable to pay for their input materials, and sugarcane farmers have besieged the sugar plants with requests for payment. If the situation continues, these enterprises may go bankrupt.

In the past few years, large volumes of Thai sugar have been illegally imported into Vietnam. Smugglers have become more audacious, illegally shipping Thai sugar to Vietnam through Cambodia and Laos, without fear of being caught by the relevant Vietnamese agencies.

They have even retained the Thai labels on the smuggled sugar products.

To deal with the problem, on June 15, the HCMC Market Management Authority inspected 10 outlets suspected of smuggling sugar and discovered 152 tons of sugar with unclear origins.

A day earlier, a total of 102 tons of sugar was found to have been illegally imported from Thailand by Hai Vinh Co., Ltd, in Quang Nam Province.

In Danang City, Thai sugar is flooding the market. The municipal market management agency investigated one enterprise there and found 59 tons of Thai sugar in its warehouse.

Traders have also used the labels of domestic sugar producers, such as Bien Hoa, Lam Son and Quang Ngai, to cheat local consumers.

SGT