Authorities will act to prevent the possibility of a sugar shortage amid concern that speculation will increase and lead households to stockpile sugar.
There is potential for a shortage because of "fake demand" spurred by speculation at a time of high world prices for the commodity, according to Prasert Tapaneeyangkul, the secretary-general of the Office of the Cane and Sugar Board (OCSB).
Global sugar prices are currently at a 28-year high because of shortages resulting from adverse weather and poor cane harvests in some producing countries. But Mr Prasert says speculation by some traders is also driving consumers to hoard goods.
"If the panic escalates and leads to more stockpiling and shortages on store shelves, we will urge wholesalers to accelerate their shipments to retail stores as a primary solution to fill the shelves,"he said.
If stepped-up shipments fail to trim the shortage, the OCSB will act to make more sugar available for the domestic market.
Normally, sugar from mills is required to be delivered to wholesalers for storage within 15 days, but shippers can ask for extensions if they face trouble with transport or poor weather, Mr Prasert said.
If some wholesalers attempt to delay shipments to feed speculation, their requests would be refused, he said.
"If these measures still fail to improve the situation, we will ask sugar millers to start their crushing season faster," he said.
The cane crushing season normally starts in late November with the first lot of sugar produced in early December.
At present, nearly 500,000 tonnes of domestic sugar are yet to be disbursed from mills. Officials estimate that 401,500 tonnes of sugar are needed until the first lot of sugar from the 2009-10 harvest season is produced.
The OCSB is preparing to add the remaining one million tonnes of sugar from the export quota to the domestic quota ease a local shortage if necessary.
Mr Prasert said the OCSB's role was to monitor sugar production for domestic sufficiency, along with storage and distribution from mills to the market. Other aspects of market regulation are the job of the Internal Trade Department at the Commerce Ministry.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
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