The sugar industry in Thailand has been growing rapidly, both in sugar cane
production and in sugar mill expansion. Demand from domestic and international markets has
been rising and has contributed to the economic growth of the nation. Sugar cane growing
and processing into raw sugar is one of the largest industries in the country. Thailand is one
of the largest sugar exporters in the world. The total export of white and raw sugar was 3.22
million tons in 2000. The Office of the Cane and Sugar Board under the Ministry of Industry
has reported the total value of sugar exports for the crop-year 1998-1999 at 21.21 billion
baht.
Cultivated in 5.62 million rais of land (1 hectare = 6.5 rais), total sugar cane
production during the crop-year 1999-2000 was 53.10 million tons (see table 1), 20.26 per
cent higher than the production of 44.17 million tons of the previous year. The Office of the
Cane and Sugar Board reported total sales of sugar cane of nearly 24 billion baht for the cropyear
1999-2000. That year, the estimated cost of transportation for carrying sugar cane to the
mills in the north-east was 2,379.18 million baht, which accounted for 41.68 per cent of the
total transportation cost of sugar cane for the whole country (see table 2).