Sugarcane production in the central province of Quang Ngai. (Photo: VNA) Data from the Vietnam Commodity Exchange (MXV) showed global sugarprices had reached 161 USD per tonne in early November, a 150% increasecompared to the beginning of the year, marking the highest price in the last 12years.
Industry experts said a decrease in supply as India and Thailand,two of the largest producers, lowered their output was the main factor behindrecent price hikes.
Thanh Thanh Cong-Bien Hoa JSC, a major sugar producer in Vietnamwith a 46% market share, said the company's revenue increased to 5.9 trillion VND(245.8 million USD) in the first three quarters of 2023, a nearly 20% increasecompared to the same period in the previous year, fetching 663 billion VND inpre-tax profit.
After-tax profit, however, plummeted by 17% as the companystruggled with high interest rates, paying out over 444 billion VND on interestpayments, almost double the amount recorded in 2022.
Lam Son Sugar reported its highest growth, 471 billion VND inrevenue and 17 billion VND in profit, a 55% and 113% increase, respectivelycompared to the same period in 2022. In an earlier development, Lam Son Sugarannounced a plan to import 40,000 tonnes of raw sugar this year, as part of aneffort to meet their annual target.
Son La Sugar also reported strong growth with a revenue of 431billion VND and profit of 119 billion VND, an increase of 26% and 47%respectively, compared to the period last year. An effort to reduce financialcosts by Son La Sugar has yielded stronger profits and was on its way tomeeting this year's fiscal target.
Quang Ngai Sugar reported an after-tax profit of 506 billion VNDfor the third quarter of 2023, a 60% increase compared to the same period lastyear but slightly lower than their performance during the first and secondquarters of 2023.
In total, Quang Ngai Sugar reported a total revenue of 7.74trillion VND in the first nine months of the year, an increase of 23% comparedto the same period last year, with sugar being the strongest growth driver forthe company, fetching 3.12 trillion VND in revenue and 1.26 trillion VND ingross profit.
With just a few months left before the end of 2023, the price ofsugar will likely increase due to higher demand, typically seen towards the Tet (Lunar New Year) Holiday. Meanwhile, inventory has beenrunning low for some time, prompting experts to anticipate difficulties on thesupplier's side in the domestic market.
They advised sugar producers to capitalise on high prices tostrengthen domestic sugarcane production and rely less on imports./.
VNA
