• Thailand’s mills crushed 66.7m tonnes of cane this season, down 64.3m tonnes from 2018/19.
• From this, they produced 7.6m tonnes of sugar, down 7m tonnes from 2018/19.
• Despite this being Thailand’s poorest season for cane and sugar production in 10 years, sucrose yields reached record levels.

Thailand’s Crush Has Drawn to a Close

• Thailand’s 2020/21 crush drew to a close on the 31^st March and turned out to be its poorest for 10 years.
• The 57 mills were operational for 112 days and crushed just 66.7m tonnes of cane, down 64.3m tonnes from 2018/19.
• Such a poor crush comes as many farmers switched to plant cassava last season, in search of greater returns and protection from drought.
• This tightened Thailand’s cane supply and meant the mills worked through their cane far quicker than usual.

• Sugar production was also poor, totalling 7.6m tonnes, down from 14.6m tonnes in 2018/19.
• This is Thailand’s weakest season for sugar production in at least a decade.

• In spite of this, sucrose yields were the highest they’ve been since at least 2006/07, at 11.36%.
• Yields were helped by the warm and wet weather seen between late October and early December, which offered the cane chance to build up its sucrose levels.

• However, the Government’s newly-tightened rules around cane burning also helped sucrose yields to reach record levels.
• As the mills can now only accept 20% of burnt cane each year, they received cane at a slower rate, as fresh cane harvesting is logistically challenging in Thailand, given the widespread machinery and labour shortages, which have only been exacerbated by COVID-19.
• Whilst being somewhat frustrating, with cane already in short supply this season, it did mean the mills could spend more time extracting sucrose from the cane, maximising their efficiency here.

Our Predictions for 2021/22

• We think Thailand will produce 100m tonnes of cane in 2021/22, up 33.4m tonnes year-on-year.
• From this, they should produce 11m tonnes of sugar, up 3.4m tonnes year-on-year.
• This is because the country has received an ideal amount of rain recently, and cane prices are currently at an all-time high.

Other Opinions You Might Be Interested In…

• Will Thailand’s Stricter Cane Burning Rules Hit Sugar Production?

Explainers You Might Be Interested In…

• Czapp Explains: Thailand’s Raw Sugar Industry