|
Storms cut supplies to sugar mills
Sugar factories along the south-central coast are facing hard times after half of the sugarcane fields in the central region were destroyed by Ketsana and Mirinae typhoons in November.
Fields in the provinces of Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, and Gia Lai have all been decimated, according to a report in the Sai Gon Giai Phong newspaper.
Sugarcane farmer Nguyen Thi Lanh of Quang Ngai Province said she had taken out loans and had hoped to sell sugarcane at VND500,000 (US$27) per tonne to clear her debt. "But after the typhoons, I became insolvent," she said.
Farmers in Binh Dinh and Phu Yen provinces have also suffered grave losses.
Phan Lam Tuong, deputy general manager of Binh Dinh Sugar Joint-Stock Co, said most of his company's fields in Binh Dinh and Gia Lai provinces had been damaged by recent typhoons.
Forty per cent of the company's sugarcane fields were damaged, with a loss of 83,709 tonnes. Elsewhere, sugar factories in Phu Yen Province had expected to buy 160,000 tonnes of raw sugarcane and produce 16,000 tonnes of sugar this year.
"The loss of 40,000 tonnes of sugarcane means a drop of 12,000 tonnes of sugar production. We won't have sugarcane for three months," Le Tan Dam, manager of Tuy Hoa Sugar Company's material department, said.
In Quang Ngai Province, the Quang Ngai Sugar Joint-Stock Co reported that 4,209ha of sugarcane cultivated for the Quang Phu and Pho Phong sugar factories had been damaged. Of that figure, more than 2,560ha in the province's Binh Son District were totally destroyed.
The factory operated by Quang Ngai Sugar Joint-Stock Co, however, can continue to operate at 40 per cent of capacity.
Competing for stock
In Gia Lai Province, factories are competing with each other to buy the limited supply of sugarcane.
In 2007, Quang Ngai Province had 7,000ha devoted to sugarcane cultivation, which fell to 5,000ha this year. Sugarcane productivity remains around 50 tonnes per hectare.
Sugarcane and sugar processing companies in Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, and Phu Yen are considering several plans to raise productivity and expand cultivation.
Despite the large cultivation area of 20,000ha, average productivity of Phu Yen Province is lower than 50 tonnes per hectare.
"Tuy Hoa Sugar Company in Phu Yen will invest VND15 million in planting, VND8 million in caretaking, and 1 tonne of fertiliser in every hectare," Le Tan Dam, a manager of the company, said.
The purchase price at the field is expected to be VND490,000 per tonne, and the price after harvest will be from VND550,000 to VND650,000 per tonne based on the distance.
Phan Lam Tuong, deputy general manager of Binh Dinh Sugar Company, said the company would cultivate new sugarcane breeds which have a high capacity of around 150 tonnes per hectare.
"If successful, we will hand over these breeds to farmers to help them recover," he said.
For the 2008-09 crop, Quang Ngai Province has 584ha of sugarcane planted, and Quang Ngai Sugar Company has invested VND36 billion (US$2 million) to develop fields, including irrigation works.
But most farmers and companies lack the funds to re-invest after the typhoon.
Vo Thanh Dang, chairman of the Viet Nam Sugar Association, said it would petition the Government, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and local authorities to help sugarcane farmers and processors. "We have also suggested that banks consider tax exemptions and lengthen the loan terms for sugarcane companies," he added.
VietNamNet,VietNamNews
|
