- Storm Dianmu hit Thailand late in September.
- This caused severe flooding across the country.
- The cane has coped well, but cassava producers are rushing to harvest to avoid devastating losses.
Thailand’s Cane Regions Have Coped Well With Storm Dianmu
- Storm Dianmu hit Thailand late last month; large parts of the country are as a result flooded.
- The cane regions haven’t endured severe damage, as it’s well established, making it less vulnerable to such conditions.
- They are instead benefitting from increased soil moisture following two drought-hit seasons.
- This should mean Thailand produces 93.7m tonnes of cane in 2021/22, up 23 tonnes year-on-year.
- Agricultural yields should also improve because of the heavy rains, with our current estimate sat at 11.16 mt/rai, up 10% year-on-year.
- However, if the cane sits in water for too long, the roots will rot, and Thailand’s agricultural yields would weaken.
- It’s early to discuss Thai cane production 2022/23, with planting yet to commence, but with cane prices sat at 1,000 THB/mt, excluding any additional payments, we should see more farmers plant cane in 2022/23.
Thailand’s Cassava Regions Have Coped Less Well…
- Cassava is more temperamental than cane when it comes to flooding.
- If the crop is submerged under water for any longer than a week, the roots begin to rot, and the crop becomes unsalable.
- We currently think that around 941k rai of Thailand’s cassava has been damaged by the floods; that’s 10% of this season’s production forecast.
- Many have attempted to harvest their cassava, with two more storms heading for Thailand later this month, but it could be too late.
- The cassava chip price could hit a record 7,700 THB/mt in 2H’22, with production set to decline alongside strong demand from China.
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