HANOI: The Ministry of Industry and Trade is set to auction import quotas for 85,000 tons of sugar this year following years of lobbying by the Vietnam Sugar and Sugarcane Association. The ministry is accepting applications until September 1 at 54 Hai Ba Trung Street, Hanoi, for the bid to be held September 7. Sugar companies are allowed to bid for import of 40,000 tons of raw sugar, while confectionary, soft drinks and other manufacturers can bid for 45,000 tons of refined sugar.
The government will pocket the difference between the bid amounts and prices. In the past, once the annual quota was announced, companies could apply and get licenses without bidding.
Companies compete fiercely for the licenses since imported sugar always costs less than domestic products. VSSA suggested auctioning them saying the mechanism was unfair. Sugar prices in Vietnam have increased strongly over the past several months to VND7,000-7,500 a kilogram, the highest levels since April. Sugar output this year is down 12.7 percent to 1.24 million tons due to drought early this year that damaged around 7 percent of the sugarcane crop, the agriculture ministry said.
