ยกระดับการทำงานของระบบอ้อยและน้ำตาลไทย

ยกระดับการทำงานของ ระบบอ้อยและน้ำตาลไทย Rise Sugar Industry to overhaul the Sugar System of Thailand

In a marked departure from the nation’s stance since

the 1980s, a global subsidy drama has forced Thailand to move closer to a float. The government has tried to reform the sugar system to free up the industry for almost two years to float the domestic retail price from a fixed 23.50 baht per kilogramme.

The fixed price has been in place since 2009, when the administration also revoked the sugar quota system. On Jan 15, the government invoked Section 44 powers to excise Section 17 (15) of the Cane and Sugar Act of 1984, which caps the sugar price for domestic consumption. The government also used to set aside three quotas each year to prevent sugar shortages.

Quota A set aside 2.2-2.5 million tonnes of sugar for domestic consumption. Quota B designated 800,000 tonnes for state-run sugar exports. Quota C covered the quantity of sugar to be exported by private sugar millers.

Section 44 was used to cancel the five-baht collection from the factory price going to the Cane and Sugar Fund.

The Office of the Cane and Sugar Board (OCSB) said the government is still considering revising other sections of the 1984 Act, which has been in the amendment process since 2014.

The liberalisation plan remains partial, but some mechanisms have been kept to continue indirectly subsidizing sugar farmers, particularly

the 70:30 profit-sharing ratio, whereby 70% of total sugar revenue made each year goes to farmers, with the remaining 30% allotted to millers.

Krungsri Research, a think tank under Bank of Ayudhya, expects the 70:30 profit-sharing ratio to help all 54 sugar millers achieve stable gross margins and strengthen the sugar supply chain to offer many related products and invest in the higher-value sugar sector that utilises molasses and bagasse. Sugar millers will have lower revenue growth from this system.