Global Sugar Market Oversupply Raises Concerns Over Domestic Sugarcane Prices
Miss Pimphattra Wichaikul, Minister of Industry, revealed that she had instructed the Office of the Cane and Sugar Board (OCSB) to closely monitor the global sugar price situation. This is due to concerns that it may impact domestic sugarcane prices for the 2024/25 production season. In the first half of 2024, the average global sugar price was 20 cents per pound, a decrease of 16.67% from 2023, when the price was 24 cents per pound. This decline is attributed to a significant surplus in the global sugar market. Brazil, one of the world’s largest sugar producers, has seen an increase in sugar production and has also increased the proportion of sugar production. Additionally, in the 2023/24 production season, Thailand produced 8.81 million tons of sugar, which is an increase of 12.80% from the expected 7.81 million tons.
Regarding the latter half of 2024, the global sugar price is expected to remain below 21 cents per pound. This is due to increased sugar production in Brazil, and if India changes its policy to allow normal sugar exports, it could lead to further accumulation of global sugar stockpiles. Thailand is expected to produce 92 million tons of sugarcane in the 2024/25 production season, an increase of 11.96% compared to the previous season’s output of 82.17 million tons.
Mr. Wirit Wisetsin, Secretary-General of the OCSB, stated that the OCSB had initially calculated the domestic sugarcane price for the 2024/25 production season. If the global sugar price remains at 21 cents per pound, the average sugarcane price is expected to be 1,200 baht per ton, a decrease of 15.49% compared to the previous production season, which saw a record-high sugarcane price of 1,420 baht per ton. However, there are still other factors involved in calculating the domestic sugarcane price. In the 2024/25 production season, the OCSB plans to improve production efficiency to ensure better yields for sugarcane farmers and higher-quality sugar for factories, which could help raise domestic sugarcane prices in the future.
