Sugar prices will greatly increase as the land where sugarcane grows continues to decrease. Posted on 04/09/2005 1:42:36 AM PDT by M. Espinola
China's sugar consumption will continue to rise in the next five to ten years and domestic supply cannot meet the increased demand, experts from the National Development and Reform Commission said.
Sugar prices will greatly increase as the land where sugarcane grows continues to decrease.
Last year, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in south China, China's main sugar producer, planned to reduce its sugarcane-cultivating area from 766,700 ha in 2003 to 533,300 ha in 2008 due to declining prices and increasing imports. Both Guangxi's sugarcane cultivating area and its output account for more than half of the country's total. About 12m farmers in the region grow sugarcane.
The Financial News reported Thursday that at present, the cost price of sugar produced in China, a main sugar producer and consumer, is 100 yuan (12 US dollars) to 200 yuan (24 dollars) higher than that of the imported ones.
Meanwhile, according to customs statistics, China imported one million tons annually of sugar, causing the decline of the sugar prices in domestic market. But this has hurt the healthy and steady development of the sugar industry, experts said. Instead experts call for efforts to help farmers to expand production scales and breed new strains.
So Castro's finally got China exactly where he wants 'em?
Castro will earn millions assisting his communist dictatorship and do it selling Cuban sugar to Red China.
In order to keep Castro in his place Bush will sign a treaty with China allowing them to have all they want - for free.
And if China doesn't get what it wants...
So? Increase prices!
Next question please!
Castro sugar isn't any cheaper. Commie grown sugar just can't compete with free enterprize grown and processed sugar.
So what's their solution? subsidize commie grown sugar with commie money taken from another non-competitive commie enterprize. Rob Peter to pay Paul. And the masses slave on to be equaly poor. Hard to believe this is what the left wants their lives to be.
Something doesn't seem right with those figures. In the first place, 533,300 hectares (ha) isn't really that much land. In the second place, with 12 million farmers growing sugarcane on 533,300 hectares, that works out to 24 farmers per hectare--quite a figure, even by what are probably the primitive agricultural methods of the Chinese.
I'm sure Gov Blanco (La) will try to sell them sugar. She just "wheeled and dealed" with Castro lately.
Anyone out there remember the so called "sugar shortage" in the 1970s, around the time of the gasoline shortages? Prices went up but people learned how to get by with less sugar. That "shortage" bit them in the rear end, sugar prices came back down pretty quickly as a result.
US sugar policy is even worse than what you decry. Import restrictions, price support programs that cost US consumers billions in artificially inflated prices and further hundreds of millions in govt. purchases to remove excess production from the market, all to the benefit of a handful of sugar barons.
http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=policy_Sugar_Subsidies
Hard to believe but true. Marxism and socialism have only one goal in mind when it comes to the masses: Make them beholden to those that are in charge.
Unfortunately, pure capitalism ends up doing the same thing.
"Anyone out there remember the so called "sugar shortage" in the 1970s, around the time of the gasoline shortages?"
I remember. One family I know of when south of the border one time, bought a big sack of sugar real cheap. Wish I could remember what they paid for it. The only thing was that the sugar had a pinkish color. I wonder what caused the odd color. Not enough processing?
Very good points.
In order for sugar prices to really begin climbing again Chinese imports would have to greatly increase.
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