According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, sugar inventory increased to nearly 600,000 tons by May end, about 222,410 tons higher than in the same period last year.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that sugar inventory has been increasing since March because of slow consumption and excess supply from sugar processing plants. The output this year has far exceeded that of previous years.
Sugar plants across the country have processed more than 15.8 million tons of sugarcane to produce nearly 1.5 million tons of sugar, whereas domestic sugar consumption is only 100,000 tons a month.
Next sugarcane crop will bring in 200,000 tons of processed sugar by October, not taking into account the volume of smuggled sugar coming in from Thailand.
