Sugar price persists rising during late season

The price of sugar climbed up to K3,110-K3,130 per viss in April 2023 at the end of sugar mill operations.
On 22 February, the wholesale price of sugar was K3,050-K3,080 per viss. Then, the price dropped to K3,000-K3,030 per viss on 16 March. The price regained to K3,070-K3,100 per viss on 18 April and continued to rise to K3,100-K3,120 per viss.
When the end season of the sugar mill operation is approaching, only sugar stockpiles are supplied to the market, U Win Tun, an owner of the sugar mill, told the Global New Light of Myanmar (GNLM).
The price of sugar hit a record high of K2,650 per viss in the wholesale price in December 2022. It reached an all-time high of K3,130 per viss in April 2023, the GNLM quoted Ko Tun Lin, a trader who sends sugar to regions outside Yangon as saying.
The sugar price hit K1,750 per viss in October 2010 and it dipped to K900 per viss in 2014 and 2019. The sugarcane price was only K40,000 per tonne then. The price jumped to K90,000 per tonne in 2022.
There are around 20 sugar factories across the country and sugarcane sowing acre is estimated at 500,000. Myanmar yearly produces 500,000 tonnes of sugar. The domestic consumption is 450,000 tonnes. The remaining is sent to foreign markets at US$600 per tonne.
Locally produced sugar is distributed only in the domestic market this month as the season of sugar mill operation is drawing nearer. The selling prices of sugar by factories weigh on the sugar price in the market.
The yearly domestic sugar consumption per capita is estimated at 7.5 kilogrammes. The sugarcane production in Thailand is 130.3 million tonnes while 14 million tonnes of sugar are produced per year. The neighbouring countries with Myanmar (Thailand and India) are the leading sugar-producing countries. If the sugar price remains high in Myanmar, the import of sugar is probable, a trader criticized. — TWA/EM