Friday, February 22, 2002
China plans to cap sugar output at 7.5mt
REUTERS
BEIJING: China plans to limit its sugar output to 7.5 million tonnes in 2002 as part of its efforts to consolidate the overcrowded sugar industry, the State Economic and Trade Commission said on Friday.
China has been producing about eight million tonnes of sugar in recent years, though severe weather damage slashed output to only 6.2 million tonnes in 2001 and 6.8 million tonnes in 2000.
The 2002 figure was the same as a preliminary forecast by the industry overseer China Sugar Industry Association at the end of last year.
China's sugar crushing season is from October to April next year. The country is the world's fourth largest producer of sugar after the European Union, Brazil and India.
The SETC said about 150 small sugar mills were to be closed down and 85 mills would be moved out of the sugar business this year. Seventy-two sugar mills are on the verge of bankruptcy, it said in a statement on its website www.setc.gov.cn.
China has said in its latest five-year plan it would restructure the loss-making industry by either merging or shutting small firms and boosting efficiency at large ones.
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