Mitr Phol puts off sugar-cane plan across the borders
Mitr Phol Sugar Corporation is likely to go slow with its plan to open plantations in Cambodia and Myanmar because of its lack of field workers and the risks in both countries. "Growing sugar cane in Southeast Asian countries, excluding Thailand, is not
“Now we have our business in Thailand and Laos. We need a lot of workers if we want to grow sugar cane in Cambodia. Our human resources right now may not be enough to do this job in that country. Besides, the cost of sugar-cane farming in Thailand is still low. So it will be good to keep our focus on Thailand and Laos,” he said.
The company is planning to farm either sugar cane or cassava in Cambodia, where it has secured a concession for about 18,000 hectares. The costs for sugar cane and tapioca are quite different. Setting up a sugar mill requires Bt3 billion, while a tapioca-processing plant needs Bt400 million to Bt600 million, Isara said.
Krisda Monthienvichienchai, president and chief executive officer of Mitr Phol, has said the company was reviving the plan to cultivate sugar cane in Cambodia, where it has a pilot plantation, after diplomatic relations between Thailand and the neighbouring country appeared to be on the mend. If the company decides to go ahead with this project, it will take two years to raise sugar cane and build a sugar mill.
Krisda has said the company would like to benefit from Cambodia’s sugar export quota to Europe, but Isara said Mitr Phol would not lose the opportunity to expand its export market in the euro zone if it did |not invest in sugar-cane farming |right now.
Regarding Myanmar, Isara said it was too early to go into sugar plantation and milling there. The company wants to take time to observe the situation in that country.
“Myanmar imports sugar from Thailand, so we may start by exporting sugar to that market. Whether we have a local sales agent in that country is under consideration. Our investment in Myanmar will not happen soon,” he said.
Mitr Phol is still keen on the implementation of the Asean Economic Community in 2015, but it will focus on Thailand, Laos and Australia, where it owns MSF, the third-largest sugar miller. The sugar cane-season in Australia starts next month.
The company targets 4 million tonnes of sugar cane and 400,000-500,000 tonnes of refined sugar from its operations Down Under this year, Isara said.
