Source: Tintucnongnghiep.vn
Stopping smuggled sugar and solving the problem of the price of sugarcane is the top goal that determines the survival in competition and integration for the sugar industry.” – Prof. Vo Tong Xuan.
Professor Vo Tong Xuan, a leading expert in the field of agriculture, affirmed that it is necessary to tighten anti-smuggling to have fair competition because otherwise smuggled sugar will suffocate the interests of entities in the sugarcane industry. Vietnamese road. At that time, it will cause farmers to lose their livelihood, sugar factories to fall into bankruptcy and consumers not to have maximum health protection.
The world’s highest standard factory still loses… smuggled sugar
Sir, how can sugar smuggling destroy the national sugar industry?
– Smuggled sugar flooded in Vietnam lead to devaluation. When sugar prices are too low in the market, in order to compete, sugar companies Vietnam There is no other way to lower the price. This has a negative knock-on effect.
With low price of finished products, sugar mills have to buy sugarcane from farmers at low price to survive. If in the past, the purchase price of sugarcane reached 900,000 – 1 million VND/ton, when the smuggled sugar flooded in, the buying price was only 700,000 – 800,000 VND/ton. At this price, farmers cannot get their investment back, let alone make a profit.
When there is not enough to live, the price of cane is low, farmers will give up sugarcane. The inevitable consequence is that the area of the raw material area is seriously reduced.
But the economic loss is even greater because when farmers give up sugarcane, they will not know what to grow. Because sugarcane growing areas are often in sandy and infertile areas, it is difficult for other plants to adapt.
– Farmers quit their jobs, but sugar factories are not better because selling below cost, over time also leads to loss of bankruptcy. As a result, many workers fall into unemployment. And yet, many factories closed, suffered damage because of smuggled sugar, the State will lose tax money from here, many other industries do not have sugar by-products as input materials.
If smuggled sugar is rampant, the sugar industry will go bankrupt. Therefore, we must definitely control the border gate, fight fiercely, effectively prevent, dismantle and strictly handle smuggling and trade fraud, especially sugar products from abroad. Vietnam.
How do you evaluate the State’s decision when levying anti-dumping tax on Thai sugar?
– Anti-dumping decision is a bright spot for the sugar industry Vietnam at this time. If you don’t do this, the sugar industry Vietnam both received a “punch” from the smuggling route, and received a “kick” from Thai sugar at a very cheap price.
Because the Thai sugar industry is protected by the Thai government, the price is very low. Come Vietnam, The price of Thai sugar is only 9,000 VND/kg, while at the Vietnamese sugar factory, the production cost is 12,800 VND/kg. After going through the intermediate stages such as transportation, packaging … is pushed up to nearly 20,000 VND/kg.
Just compare prices between Thai sugar and Vietnam saw the difference and caused difficulties for the sugar industry ngành Vietnam how horribly.
Many sugar mills Vietnam EU1 standard (the world’s highest standard), can supply sugar for the whole pharmaceutical industry, so it can meet the standards of most other industries. However, technological equipment only affects about 25% of the product cost, the rest depends on the input of raw sugar cane. This is the key point of the sugar industry Vietnam.
Currently, Brazil is the most efficient sugarcane farming country, costing only 16 USD for the production of 1 ton of sugarcane. Australia costs 18-20 USD/ton, Thailand about 32 USD/ton but Vietnam lose up to 50 USD/ton.
These figures show the sugar processing industry of Vietnam lost right from the input material stage. Solving the problem of the cost of sugarcane is the top goal that decides survival in competition and integration.
Mechanization will help the sugar industry improve productivity and quality. Photo: QH
Learn Japanese to do cooperatives
In addition to the drastic intervention of the State to protect the Vietnamese sugar industry, it also needs the high efforts of enterprises in this industry. But looking at the numbers of sugarcane production in very efficient countries, what do you think we need to do to lower prices to increase competitiveness?
– The above countries have low sugarcane production costs because they mechanize production on an area of several thousand hectares. Meanwhile in Vietnam, Farmers produce sporadic, small, strong, everyone can do it. Farmers’ farming techniques are mainly based on traditional experience without knowing scientific reasons.
For example, farmers have a habit of applying a lot of fertilizer without knowing that it reduces the sugar yield of sugarcane. Instead of plowing half a meter deep, only plowing about 20 cm shallow. Plowing deeply, making the soil thoroughly, the sugarcane will stick deeply, optimally develop the roots, and the fertilizer will be kept for a long time in the roots. Do not focus on providing water regularly for sugarcane right from the time of cutting cuttings to help sugarcane grow well.
Farmers arbitrarily use sets of seeds mainly sourced from abroad, not based on any scientific data, so sugarcane yields are very erratic.
Not to mention, because the disease was not treated, it was planted and transferred from one area to another, so the epidemic was not controlled. This made the disease on sugarcane quickly spread to many key sugarcane growing areas in the country.
According to him, if farmers do it themselves, the scale is small and the efficiency is low, so what should be done with the cooperation problem?
– If done well, done right, farmers will have high benefits on the cultivated area, ensuring profits. And from there, other actors in the sugar industry also benefit.
We can also learn how the Japanese designed cooperatives for the development of the sugar industry. Farmers entering the cooperative are fully supported from equipment to policies, application and application of science and technology in production to promote their strength.
When farmers gather a large area of land for cultivation, or in other words, they are eligible for mechanized farming to reduce the production cost of sugarcane. From there, it is possible to fertilize at the same time so that the sugarcane plant changes from growth to growth and accumulates sugar. Only then will the profit be optimized.
For sustainable development, it is necessary to build a close link between businesses and farmers, build a quality and sustainable sugarcane material area; technology investment to improve product quality and competitiveness in the context of deep integration. The State must have policies to encourage mechanization, automation or capital support mechanisms for the sugar industry.
Thank you sir.
Consumers should only buy sugar with clear brands, labels, origins, addresses, etc., thereby supporting the sugar industry. Vietnam develop and grow. Photo: Q.Huy
Consumers are easy, beware of eating waste sugar
In your opinion, if domestic consumers use smuggled sugar in bags, without labels, how will the shelf life be affected by health effects?
– Famous beverage brands in the world such as Coca Cola or Pepsi, sugary bottled water from Japan, USA and Europe all buy sugar from big sugar factories in Vietnam.
Of course, this type of sugar has food safety certification, meets the strict conditions of the countries, as well as can be traced. Because big brands are conscious of protecting customers’ health.
Meanwhile, many consumers Vietnam It is easy to buy smuggled sugar extracted into bags without labels, brands, without food safety and hygiene certificates because of the low price. Many people do not know that these cheap smuggled sugar bags have been rejected by the same countries because of poor quality, containing many harmful pathogens. And of course eating will have unpredictable effects on health.
Therefore, everyone should eat sugar in a smart, scientific way. Specifically, only buy sugar with Vietnamese brands, clear origin, thereby supporting the sugar industry Vietnam develop and grow.
