Sugar industry under great pressure from imported liquid sugar

Vietnam's sugar industry is facing increasingly serious challenges as the pressure from smuggled sugar has not yet been resolved, while the increase in imports of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) continues to pose a direct threat to the sustainable development of the entire industry.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Loc, Chairman of the Vietnam Sugarcane and Sugar Association (VSSA), not only having to deal with the smuggling of Thai sugar and commercial fraud, the increasing importation of HFCS corn syrup and its widespread use in the beverage industry is creating double pressure, putting the sugar industry at serious risk of losing market share.

Mr. Loc said that HFCS is currently the main sweetener in the beverage industry, completely replacing the previous role of refined sugar from sugarcane. This has caused the amount of sugar in the country to increase day by day, consumption has stagnated, pushing sugar factories and sugarcane farmers into a difficult situation.

Data from the General Department of Customs shows that the amount of HFCS corn syrup liquid imported into Vietnam has increased sharply in recent years. If in 2021, the import volume was more than 102,000 tons, by 2024 this number had exceeded 241,000 tons.

In the first 7 months of 2025 alone, Vietnam imported more than 126,000 tons of HFCS. Most of which was HFCS - 55 - containing 55% fructose and 45% glucose, which is 25 - 60% sweeter than cane sugar, and is chosen by businesses to replace cane sugar due to its cheaper price and stronger sweetening ability.

This trend has seriously narrowed the domestic sugar consumption market. The amount of refined sugar from sugarcane produced from the 2023/24 crop year is still in stock at many factories due to lack of output, directly affecting the sugarcane value chain, from farmers to processing enterprises.

The Vietnam Sugarcane and Sugar Association forecasts that the 2025-2026 crop year will be a year of many challenges to the point of survival for the Vietnamese sugar industry as it has to deal with the outbreak of smuggled sugar and trade fraud in smuggled sugar, the evasion of trade defense measures and the narrowing of the sugar market due to the increase in imports of liquid sugar and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

Meanwhile, some countries with sugar industries similar to Vietnam, such as Indonesia, have proactively applied trade defense measures to protect domestic production. Mr. Nguyen Van Loc said that Vietnam also needs to review its policy of implementing import tariff quotas on sugar in the context of many fluctuations in the economy and market.

“Even the WTO commitments allow a member country to temporarily exempt or reduce commitments made in the WTO when facing a sudden increase in imports or other emergency situations that cause serious damage to the domestic production industry,” said Mr. Loc.

Not only stopping at proposing adjustments to tariff policies, the representative of KCP Vietnam Industrial Company Limited ( Dak Lak ) also proposed applying non-tariff measures to control the import of liquid sugar and corn syrup HFCS, and at the same time proposed imposing special consumption tax on beverages containing HFCS, with a tax rate twice as high as that of cane sugar.

This practice is currently being adopted in the Philippines, not only to protect the sugar industry but also to protect the health of consumers, as many studies have shown that HFCS may be associated with greater health risks than natural cane sugar.

Faced with the above situation, Mr. Loc said that it is necessary to use trade defense tools flexibly and promptly to maintain the domestic sugarcane production ecosystem. He also said that since Vietnam implemented trade defense measures in 2021, the sugarcane industry has recorded a significant recovery.

In the 2024-2025 crop year, the industry purchased sugarcane from farmers at an average price of VND1.2-1.3 million/ton - a competitive price in the region. At the same time, sugar productivity reached 6.69 tons of sugar/ha - the highest in Southeast Asia, surpassing Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

With these positive signals, the sugar industry has high expectations for the 2025-2026 crop year with an expected sugarcane growing area of over 201,000 hectares, an increase of 6.3% over the previous crop year, processed sugarcane output of over 13.34 million tons, producing about 1.37 million tons of sugar, an increase of 8.24%. The country will maintain 25 sugar factories in operation with a total designed capacity of 124,000 tons of sugarcane per day.

However, all of the above efforts could be “wiped out” if there are no timely and effective measures to control the current rampant import of HFCS. The Vietnamese sugar industry is in dire need of drastic action from the authorities to protect the domestic market, ensure fair trade and preserve the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of sugarcane farming households across the country.

vietnamplus.vn

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/nganh-mia-duong-truoc-suc-ep-lon-tu-duong-long-nhap-khau-post882969.html