Three Sugar Millers Association supported the government's plan to become part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the free trade agreement which has involved 11 Asia-Pacific nations, expecting that the pact would boost Thailand's sugar exports.
THE private-sector sugar industries of Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines agreed to form an alliance in preparation for the coming Asean Economic Community (AEC) in 2015.
Stakeholders from the sugar industries of the three Asian countries established the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Sugar Alliance or ASA.
The Office of the Cane and Sugar Board (OCSB) expects the industry to earn Bt193 billion this year thanks to the rising price of sugar in the world market.
As a result, Thai sugar-cane growers will enjoy a high final price in the new harvest season, which is forecast to produce 99 million tonnes. However, drought could affect production.
The possibility of an El Nino, a warming of the Pacific Ocean that causes rains in sugar growing areas in Brazil and dry weather in India, may erode a global sugar surplus, according to Copersucar SA, a producer in Brazil.
Thailand, the world's second-biggest sugar exporter, has revised up its forecast for 2012/13 sugar production to 10.4 million tonnes and aims to produce more every year in order to supply rising consumption in Asia, a top industry official said.
A delay in harvesting the sugar cane crop in Brazil will see the world’s largest producer lose market share in China, set to be one of the season’s biggest importers, as Thailand increases its shipments to the Asian nation.
Thailand is forecast to ship 600,000 metric tons of raw sugar to China in the first half of the year, according to Thai Sugar Trading Corp., the country’s largest exporter.
NEW DELHI: India and Thailand are caught in a race for the top slot in farm exports from southeast Asia. India has pipped Thailand to become the top rice exporter but the latter has won the day in sugar exports.
THAI sugar giant Mitr Phol hopes to create a profitable future for Queensland growers by increasing land in production.
The company has launched a $313 million all cash take-over bid for the Mulgrave, South Johnstone and Tableland mills, 6000ha of agricultural land and other assets owned by MSF Sugar, the Cairns Post reports.
Australia's sugar cane crushing industry is set to be dominated by foreigners after Thailand's Mitr Phol Sugar Corp Ltd on Wednesday launched a long awaited take-over offer for one the country's last remaining independent cane millers.
THE boycott of Coca-Cola products to be launched by consumer group, Sugar Watch, in Negros Occidental on June 22 is seen to cut more than 50 percent of the company's gross sales in the province.
Sugar Watch is composed of small sugar farmers, labor organizations, sugar workers and agrarian reform beneficiaries in Negros Occidental.
Raw-sugar premiums in Thailand, the world’s second-largest exporter of the sweetener, climbed to the highest level in two weeks as supplies from top producer Brazil remain limited due to falling production and shipping delays.
PUNE: Sugar exports have failed to fetch a good price for sugar factories from the state, the result, say experts, of delayed permission from the government to begin exports.
Although the announcement to restart sugar exports was made in December 2010, the actual order was issued only in April, by which time the international market had started receiving sugar from Thailand.
IT'S like selling ice to the Eskimos: about 40,000 tonnes of Thai sugar is being shipped into Mackay to top up dwindling reserves after a disastrous, waterlogged harvest.
Sugar Australia, which is owned by Sucrogen and Mackay Sugar Limited, is importing raw sugar to boost stores at its Racecourse refinery, which supplies the industrial and consumer sugar market and markets the CSR Sugar brand.
Thailand is unlikely to experience a sugar shortage this year since supply still exceeds demand, insists the Cane and Sugar Board.
Secretary-general Prasert Tapaneeyangkul emerged yesterday to confirm the adequacy of the domestic sugar supply amid growing concerns that a shortage was looming, similar to that of palm oil.
"By increasing the domestic sugar allocation, we assure the people that we have a significant amount of sugar, unlike in the case of palm. Thailand does not produce enough palm, but for sugar, our production outstrips the demand by several times," said Dr Prasert.
A major Asian company looks set to secure a large slice of Queensland's sugar industry.
Thailand's Mitr Phol Sugar Corp has entered an agreement to buy a 19.9 per cent share of Maryborough Sugar Factory in southern Queensland.
Mitr will buy the shares from Sir Ron Brierley's Guinness Peat Group, which owns a 24.5 per cent stake of Maryborough Sugar.
Simon Mordant from Greenhill Caliburn, the group advising Maryborough Sugar, says the offer is subject to a number of conditions.
"14.9 per cent can be sold without Foreign Investment Review Board approval and the balance - the 5 per cent - is subject to the approval of the Foreign Investment Review Board," he said.
Maryborough Sugar owns mills at Maryborough and Mulgrave, near Cairns in far north Queensland, and has agreed to a joint venture with Bundaberg Sugar to combine the two groups' north Queensland mills.
source: abc.net.au
"Exports next year will probably be around 3.7 million to 3.9 million metric tons as drought has damaged crops and hurt yields," Rangsit Hiangrat, director of the Cane and Sugar Industry Policy Bureau, said today on the sidelines of a conference in Bali, Indonesia. The nation is estimated to ship 4.6 million tons of sugar this year, he said.
"Shipments may fall below the forecast as domestic consumption is likely to be greater than 2.3 million tons this year," he said.
source: washingtonpost
The Industry Ministry's Office of Cane and Sugar Board is maintaining its stance on the allocation of 100,000 tonnes of sugar to the Commerce Ministry despite plans by millers to reclaim the sugar due to delays in distribution, says permanent industry secretary Witoon Simchokdee.
On March 11, the OCSB approved the Commerce Ministry's request for a special allocation of 100,000 tonnes of sugar to be distributed through 11 traders to relieve shortages and prevent a further spike in prices.
The approval came after retailers complained about their diminishing stocks and millers' reluctance to supply them.
Mr Witoon, who is also chairman of the OCSB, said the Commerce Ministry sent a letter to reaffirm its responsibility for handling the sugar, stating the reason for the delays in distribution was the political unrest during April and May.
An Industry Ministry source said Manas Sroyploy, director-general of the Commerce Ministry's Foreign Trade Department, said it will use a monopoly law against sugar millers unwilling to sell sugar to traders.
Mr Manas also threatened to seize export quotas and dissolve the Thai Sugar Millers Corp if they do not co-operate, the source said.
source: bangkokpost
Sugar millers are planning to take back the sugar they previously agreed to allocate to the Commerce Ministry to ease the tight supply of the commodity, blaming the ministry for delays in distribution.
The Thai Sugar Millers Corporation (TSMC), which comprises 47 local mills, is preparing to ask the Cane and Sugar Board (CSB) to consider giving back the sugar allocated to the Commerce Ministry so that it can distribute the sugar itself, said TSMC executive chairman Vibul Panitvong.
The Industry Ministry's Cane and Sugar Board on March 11 approved the Commerce Ministry's request for a special allocation of 100,000 tonnes of sugar to distribute through 11 traders to relieve the shortage and prevent a further spike in prices.
The approval came after retailers complained about their diminishing stocks and millers' reluctance to supply them.
A CSB source said that so far, 80,000 out of the 100,000 tonnes of sugar had been allocated to the Commerce Ministry, but only about 3,000 tonnes had been released to the market.
"In fact, we have seen very little progress in the distribution [of sugar]," said Mr Vibul.
Industry permanent secretary Witoon Simachokdee, also the CSB chairman, said the board would meet on May 24 to consider the allocation of 100,000 tonnes of sugar to the Commerce Ministry.
The CSB in March raised the quota for local consumption by 100,000 tonnes to 2.2 million tonnes, expecting that demand for domestic food and beverage production would rise in line with the recovering economy.
An increased quota would be allocated largely to the Commerce Ministry.
In Thailand, the sugar business operates under a quota system, with white-only quota A for local consumption; raw-only quota B to be exported by the quasi-government Thai Cane and Sugar Corp; and white-and-raw quota C to be exported by mills through traders.
source:bangkokpost
Sugar output in Thailand, the world's second-biggest exporter, may be little changed in 2010/11 from the recently finished crop as drought is likely to cut cane production, a senior industry official said on Monday.
The 2010/11 crushing season is expected to start in late November and run through April.
Thailand may produce around 68 million tonnes of cane in the 2010/11 crop, barely changed from the 68.48 million in 2009/10, said Prasert Tapaneeyangkul, secretary-general of the Office of Cane and Sugar Board (OCSB), which oversees the sugar industry.
"Much of the cane that was being grown in key regions such as the north and northeast was severely damaged by the drought, which means the current 2010/11 sugar production could be cut significantly," Prasert told Reuters, meaning it would be lower than the OCSB forecast in late 2009.
At that point, it was looking for record output of 80 million tonnes of cane, or roughly 8 million tonnes of sugar, after a surge in world prices in 2009 encouraged farmers to switch to growing cane.
The new forecast of 68 million tonnes of cane was the best-case scenario, Prasert said.
One negative factor was an abnormal dry spell caused by an El Nino weather phenomenon. Another was a drop in world sugar prices that discouraged farmers from investing in fertiliser to improve yield. Some farmers had even abandoned their crops, he said.
New York raw sugar prices have tumbled more than 50 percent from a 29-year high of 30.40 cents per lb in February to settle at 13.75 cents per lb on Friday.
Prasert said the OCSB would review its 2010/11 cane and sugar forecast again by the third quarter after the rainy season ends.
The OCSB's forecast is in line with traders' projections. They have said the delay to the rainy season caused by El Nino would cut cane production as well as sugar content in the cane.
If the forecast is accurate exports could fall from the 4.7 million tonnes expected to be shipped this year and the record 5.1 million tonnes last year.
Thailand consumes around 2.0-2.2 million tonnes of sugar each year and that will be easily covered by output.
"It means we'll have less sugar left for export, but it won't lead to any surge in domestic prices or a sugar shortage," one trader said.
source: reuters
Investors were carried along in a wave of enthusiasm for the soft commodity, swept away by reports of bad harvests in India and Brazil that would leave a significant shortfall.
It sent prices on the ICE Commodity Exchange in New York surging to a 30-year high at more than 30 cents per pound.
But in February, reports of healthier-than-expected harvests poured cold water over the warnings that too much sugar cane had been damaged by rain in some places and drought in others. Before long, it had caused the positive sentiment around sugar to evaporate and prices to plunge at their fastest rate since the 1980s.
Although there is still an expectation of a deficit of between 9m and 12m tons of sugar production in the 2009-2010 crop year, there could actually be a surplus of a million tons the next year, according to the International Sugar Organisation.
The resulting sugar spike is likely to have raised the blood pressure of soft commodity investors across the globe.
Attracted by the healthy prices for much of last year, cane producers started planting more crops in the hope of cashing in on the bull run. Now the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association is forecasting sugar cane output may rise 10pc this season to more than 580m tons.
India's sugar producers have now called for a 60pc import duty on foreign sugar, since exchange prices have dropped lower than domestic prices in India.
Prices fell as low as 16.57 cents per pound at one point on Wednesday on the realisation that worries about the supply were overplayed by the market, and US analysts believe prices could tumble as low as 15 cents per pound.
As prices dropped 8.5pc this week to their nine-month low, signs emerged of a speculative investor sell-off with hedge and index-fund managers dramatically cutting their holdings, according to data from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Indian, Brazilian, Thai and other top exporters have also blamed the European Union for contributing to the slump in prices this year, after it pressed ahead with exporting more sugar than specified under a trade agreement.
The exporters are planning to lobby against the EU's actions, after the shipment of an extra 500,000 tons on top of the agreed allowance.
Towards the tail end of this week, there were some signs that sugar's fall from grace may have levelled off, with the world's second-largest exporter, Thailand, insisting on a forecast of about 18 cents per pound. Its board of trade pointed out that China and India may still potentially suffer poor harvests and claimed that fundamental demand has not weakened.
"We're pretty close to the bottom," Ian McMaster, chairman of the Global Sugar Alliance, told an industry meeting in Thailand. "I would be surprised to see it fall much further."
Czarnikow, the world's oldest sugar trader, is also convinced that the fundamental structure of the market – with demand outstripping supply – has not changed. And it has warned that the low prices are now cutting into profitability, giving little incentive or funding for further growth and therefore increasing the risk of further volatility.
"Given the collapse of market sentiment it is very difficult to see the immediate path for the market," said Toby Cohen, head of analysis. "In the short term we have to expect to see volatility remain high, and though the market should retrace some of its losses, we cannot yet identify a catalyst to signal a change in direction given the way that the market has ignored recent take-off.
"But despite the rise and fall in prices, little has changed in terms of the fundamental structure. The sugar market remains heavily exposed to a few key suppliers while stock levels remain extremely low."
Others believe the sugar price may have further to fall before it shoots back up again, because the world's biggest consumers of sugar – drinks and confectionery makers – have been reluctant to buy the commodity at such expensive levels, pushing down demand.
"Physical buyers will be waiting on the sidelines in expectation of a continued decline in prices until prices will have stabilised," according to analysts from Commerzbank.
"Even though the price decline is overdone – given that there is still a market deficit – one should wait until the price has bottomed out.
"This should be the case at a price level of between 10 to 15 US cents. This is the price range within which the sugar price is usually fluctuating when the sugar market is balanced."
Whether sugar has further to fall or not, it is looking unlikely that it will return to the sweet spot it hit at the height of the market frenzy any time soon.
source: telegraph
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