COMMODITIES
Suwit: 14% increase reflects higher costs
VICHAYA PITSUWAN
The government has agreed to increase the price of sugarcane by 14% to 800 baht per tonne as requested by cane farmers, saying planters deserve a better price to cover rising production costs. Cane farmers have been receiving 700 baht per tonne of cane sold under the previous price set by the state Office of the Cane and Sugar Board (OCSB).
However, planters have been lobbying since last year for an increase to 800 baht, saying that their production costs have surged in line with more expensive labour as well as increases in fertiliser and fuel prices.
Industry Minister Suwit Khunkitti pledged to raise the rate at a seminar yesterday on sugar industry reform and development, even though world sugar prices currently are low relative to some other commodities.
Thailand relies heavily on the world price as a benchmark as only 30% of its production is for local consumption and the rest is exported.
Mr Suwit asked the OCSB to work out a way to find the extra funds to pay the sugarcane farmers another 100 baht a tonne.
The funds could come from either the OCSB budget or it could obtain loans from the state-run Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Co-operatives, said Mr Suwit, who is also a deputy prime minister.
He also mentioned the possibility of providing more support to the ethanol industry, which could use by-products from sugarcane processing.
''If we push for growth in the ethanol industry, which is a value-added product from cane, farmers could even see their cane prices hit 1,000 baht per tonne in the future,'' Mr Suwit said.
He said that ethanol was playing a major role as a source of alternative energy, so producers should be offered tax incentives, and tariff rates should be cheaper than for alcohol production.
Sugarcane farmers yesterday also urged the government to improve irrigation systems as dry weather is threatening yields.
The Industry Ministry has set aside a total of one billion baht to improve irrigation systems.
Mr Suwit said he would attempt to double the budget as one billion baht would not be enough to solve irrigation problems.
Sugarcane output for the current 2007-08 crop year is forecast at 73 million tonnes, up from 68 million in the previous season.
Orathai Chusinkul, the secretary-general of the Cane Farmers Association, said she supported the minister's proposals, as low cane prices, irrigation problems and legal obstacles could turn farmers away from producing sugarcane to planting other crops, notably rice, which is commanding record prices across the world.
''Without urgent government support, the problem in this industry could become a national concern in the long run,'' she added.
Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Next
Deep link provided by Citebite
