Affected by the Decline in Sugar Planting Area, Domestic Sugar Production in the 2021/22 Crushing Season May Decline

The planting yield is low, and the willingness to plant sugar beet has dropped sharply. Recent information released by the China Sugar Association shows that due to the income growth of alternative crops such as corn and potatoes, and the lack of government financial subsidies for sugar beet production, the competitiveness of sugar beet planting is obviously insufficient. Taking Inner Mongolia as an example, the profit of sugar beet planting is only 400 yuan/mu, much lower than 894 yuan/mu for corn planting. In the 2021/22 crushing season, the willingness to plant sugar beet has dropped sharply. Inner Mongolia’s intention to plant sugar beet has decreased by about 30% (individual companies may stop production due to lack of raw materials), Xinjiang by about 20%, Heilongjiang by about 50%. The beet sugar production is expected to decrease by 400,000 tons and the final output will be around 1.1 million tons.

The area of sugarcane planted is expected to increase slightly. The sugarcane planting area in Guangxi during the 2021/22 crushing season is expected to increase by 250,000 mu to reach 11.4 million mu; the sugarcane planting area in Zhanjiang, Guangdong continues to decline and is expected to decrease by 100,000 mu during the new crushing season. The actual planting area in Guangdong will be around 1.15 million mu; Yunnan has not yet been harvested in the 2020/21 crushing season, and it is expected that the sugarcane planting area in the new crushing season will increase steadily. It is estimated that the increase in domestic cane sugar production in the 2021/22 crushing season will be about 100,000 to 150,000 tons, and the final output will be around 9.1 million tons.

With the expected decline in beet sugar production much greater than the increase in cane sugar production, the domestic sugar production will decline in the 2021/22 crushing season in expectation, which is expected to be around 10.20-30 million tons.