Vietnams sugar plans lack cane

04 May 1999

Vietnam’s sugar plans lack cane

AMBITUOUS plans by Vietnam to boost its sugar processing capacity are suffering from a lack of cane, reports the Financial Times.

The problem lies with the original plan put into effect in 1994 which called for the production of 1m tonnes of sugar annually by 2000.

But the planners failed to convince farmers of the benefits of growing cane with the result that there is not enough cane to process.

The newspaper paints a picture of a “desperate struggle” taking place for cane supplies with foreign invested processors ranged against local state-owned companies.

Vietnams cane processing capacity has almost tripled to about 70,000 tonnes per day but the production area has risen to just 250,000ha from 160,000ha (39, 535 acres).

• Financial Times 04/05/99 page 28