Bangkok (VNA) – Sugar makers in Thailand have warned that another drought could significantly cut into sugar output in the 2020-2021crop, according to local media.
Presidentof the Thai Sugar Millers Corporation (TSMC) public relations working group Siriwut Siempakdi said the industrymust brace for the next drought. If the sugar-cane production area in northeastern Thailandsees lower-than-normal rainfall during the wet season, the 2020-21 crop couldexperience record lows in output.
TSMCstatistics showed sugar-cane output was 74.9million tonnes in the last crop year (2019-20), resulting in 8.27 milliontonnes of sugar.
Siriwutnoted that last crop year, the drought crisis affected the sugar-cane industryglobally and it increased global sugar prices up to 15 US cents per pound, butthis year Brazil plans to increase sugar exports.
TSMC hasclosely monitored Brazil to see if the country will cause sugar prices todecline by redirecting some of its production towards biofuels, he said.
The price ofsugar in the world market dropped from 15 cents per pound to 11.09 centsearlier this year.
The COVID-19pandemic has affected oil demand, causingBrazil to delay transitioning some of its sugar production to biofuels.
Those factors will affect the sugar-cane and sugar mill industry inThailand, and TSMC expects it will be another hard year for the industry,according to Siriwut.
𝓰 Thailand is the world'sfourth-largest sugar producer and second-largest exporter, after Brazil.
The country has a total 57 sugar mills with a capacity of984,000 tonnes per day, supplied by 18,240 sq.km of sugar-cane plantationsacross 47 provinces./.
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Illustrative image (Photo: Internet) 
