Sugarcane price edges up as domestic demand on sugar rises

Following the sugar price rally in the domestic market, the price of sugarcane soared to over K65,000 per tonne, said Daw Htway Yi, a sugarcane grower from Htigyaing Township.
The prices of sugarcane remain upward trend on the back of strong demand and high price of sugar in the market. However, the growers do not have a great profit due to the high input cost, she added.
This year, sugarcane fetches up to K65,000 per tonne. It was priced at only K43,000 per tonne last year, Mandalay market’s data showed.
In a bid to minimize post-harvest losses, the harvested sugarcane in two districts, Mandalay Region is brought directly to sugar mills, the Mandalay Region Agriculture Department stated.
The department’s statistics indicated that more than 20,000 acres of sugarcane plantations in Mandalay and PyinOoLwin districts are completed and over 4,000 acres have been harvested.
“It is the harvest season of sugarcane. The growers have already connected with the sugar processing mills. The department is providing technical assistance for post-harvest quality management to the growers to reduce the post-harvest losses and increase their incomes. The harvest season will end in February and March,” said Daw Khaing Mo Mo Zin, deputy staff officer of the regional Agriculture Department.
Myanmar produced over 400,000 tonnes of sugar in the 2020-2021 financial year, which is a significant drop of 100,000 tonnes as against those recorded in the 2019-2020FY. — KK/GNLM