Sugar production scenario in Thailand uncertain

21-Aug-2024 08:02 PM

Bangkok. Thailand, located in South-East Asia, is the second largest permanent exporter of sugar in the world after Brazil and the third largest producer after Brazil and India.

There, the production of sugarcane and sugar was affected in the marketing season of 2023-24 due to the outbreak and effect of the El Nino weather cycle and the production scenario in the 2024-25 season also seems uncertain. However, this time El Nino will not have any significant impact.

Thailand experienced a period of severe heat during April-June, due to which the sugarcane crop was partially damaged.

The Meteorological Department of Thailand said on 6 May 2024 that out of the total 77 provinces of the country, more than three dozen provinces recorded record-breaking heat during the month of April,

which also broke the record of the year 1958. During the 2023-24 marketing season, not only did the average yield rate of sugarcane decline in Thailand, but the average recovery rate of sugar from sugarcane also fell to the lowest level in the last 13 years.

In its February 2024 report, Thai Sugar Millers Corp had estimated the total domestic production of sugar to decline to 75 lakh tonnes during the 2023-24 season, but the government data released on April 22 stated sugar production to be 87.70 lakh tonnes.

It is known that sugarcane crushing in Thailand usually starts in December and continues till April next year.

There is still a dire need of good rainfall in the major sugarcane producing areas of Thailand. It is raining there but its distribution is said to be uneven.

The temperature is still at a high level, so if there is a gap of even 15-20 days between two rains, then the risk of damage to the sugarcane crop increases. Both raw and white sugar are exported from Thailand to various countries of the world.