CAN THO – Sugarcane farmers in Long An Province have had to stop growing sugarcane, a staple plant in the locality, as its price has fallen to as low as VND100,000 per ton and the demand is also low.
The falling prices have led to a sharp decrease in the acreage of cane fields. Sugarcane farming in this Mekong Delta province in the 2019-2020 crop covered 481 hectares of land, meeting 22.9% of this year’s target and just equivalent to 10.8% of the figure the previous year, according to the provincial government’s report reviewing the socioeconomic situation in the first half of this year.
With such low prices, local farmers suffered heavy losses and had to shift to growing other plants such as rice, wheat and fruit trees.
In Hau Giang, another Mekong Delta province where sugarcane is a staple crop, the acreage of sugarcane fields in the first five months of this year dropped by some 2,400 hectares or 29% against the same period last year to 5,900 hectares, according to a report of the Hau Giang People’s Committee.
In related news, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has decided to begin an investigation into high-fructose corn syrup (HFSC) from China and South Korea, after considering the relevant regulations.
On May 21, the ministry’s Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam received a request stating that anti-dumping measures need to be imposed on a certain number of HFSC products originating from these two countries.
Six companies on behalf of the local refined sugar manufacturing sector made this request comprising Son La, Lam Son, Can Tho, La Nga sugar joint stock companies, the KCP Vietnam Industries and MK Sugar Vietnam limited companies.
By Trung Chanh
