Sugar Cane

[Gary A]

There appears to be a shortage of sugar world wide but the price of sugar cane out of the field here in Thailand is 850 baht per ton. The cutters and haulers get 250 baht per ton leaving the farmers 600 baht per ton. Since sugar cane can't be stored, the question is who is making the BIG money? Last year the price was 1,200 baht per ton. It would appear reasonable that there could be a revolution. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. It's a shame that the farmers are forced to take whatever the middle men are offering.

[Roadman]

Interesting.

My wife (here in NZ) and her sister (from the Mor Ding Dang area - 30 odd km SW of Udon Thani) have been planting up all the new, family acquired or leased land which they they can get their hands on into sugar to diversify from their Euc forests lands. For their current crops which were only about 8 or 9 months at the time, they had an offer of B1200/ton made one month ago. It was turned down on the basis that the crop is still juvenile and has a lot more tonnage to grow per rai. But also on the basis that the expectation would be on the sugar crop damages in Aussie that the price would improve beyond B1200/ton.

I think from reading some of your previous posts that you are also SW of Udon Thani or was that another regular farming poster?

Edited March 8, 2011 by Roadman

[WatersEdge]

On the retail side,

It is the right time of year for the sugar producers to announce a nationwide shortage,

with purchases limited to 2kg per person

[Foreverford]

On the retail side,

It is the right time of year for the sugar producers to announce a nationwide shortage,

with purchases limited to 2kg per person

I'm really slow so maybe some education on how this works because as a quasi farmer (only by birth) my brain goes sideways on me too often and 13.9 baht for Hom Mali this year was ugly for the bottom line boo hoo. Anyhow sugar and palm oil prices are regulated at the market by govt maximum prices. Thailand ran out of Palm Oil and had a crisis and ended up importing stock to refine. thailand exported a bunch of the stuff. Exports of sugar i thought I may have heard were regulated. How do these refineries get stock if the crop sells at an export price that is in fact higher than the price that the producers can put the stuff on the shelf. Why would anybody who is now harvesting palm oil not sell internationally if the national market is faced with the inability to purchase raw and refine the oil at less the 47 baht the retail "on the shelf"? I'm pretty slow and don't really get it unless the govt is buying the stuff at a loss for the refineries at times to support their policy of fixed prices. Flailing in a Ford