Thailand: Sugar yield quells ethanol shortage fear

Thailand: Sugar yield quells ethanol shortage fear

Ethanol shortage concerns in Thailand have subsided on the good sugar yield
from the latest sugar cane crop, providing abundant molasses for the ethanol
industry, says a senior industrial official.

Thai SugarMillers Corporation Ltd (TSMC), which includes all Thai 52 sugar
factories, said the current 2016/17 sugar crushing crop began on Dec 6, and
has since found that the sugar yield was higher than last year's.

The crushing also produces substantial quantities of molasses, a byproduct
that is used to produce ethanol, which is then blended with pure gasoline
and sold to motorists as gasohol, assuaging fears regarding a possible
ethanol shortage in the oil industry.

"There are no concerns about an ethanol shortage at this moment," said
Sirivuth Siamphakdee, the chairman of the TSMC.

In December 2016, mismanagement among ethanol factories and a delay in
molasses production raised concerns about a possible ethanol shortage during
the year-end period, when demand was higher.

The Energy Business Department began managing private ethanol producers to
ensure they had maintenance shutdowns at appropriate times or even delayed
maintenance in order to prevent ethanol shortages.

Thailand normally produces around 4 million tonnes of molasses a year.
Around 1.2 million tonnes go to the liquor industry and around 500,000
tonnes are exported, leaving around 2.5-2.7 million tonnes for the ethanol
industry.

Total ethanol production capacity in Thailand is 5.05 million litres a day.
But only 4.2 million litres a day is produced due to the seasonal
limitations of molasses and tapioca, the other source of ethanol.

Supply of the raw materials is expected to rise substantially in the coming
years and the government is encouraging farmers to switch from growing rice
to sugar cane, which can generate more added value.

Thailand's sugar production this year is expected to exceed the forecast of
9.1-9.2 million tonnes made at the beginning of crushing season in early
December 2016.

The yield ratio for the sugar in this 2016/17 crop stood at 86.8, which
implies that one tonne of sugar cane produces 86.8 kilogrammes of sugar.

That was higher than the 81.5 in the previous crop, said Mr Sirivuth.

Commercial cane sugar (CCS), which measures cane sugar content, was also
higher in the recent crop.

CCS for the 2016/17 crop is at 10.9 compared with 10.3 in the previous crop,
he said.

The TSMC has not yet revised its forecast for total sugar production, saying
it needs to observe further whether there are any negative factors that can
adversely affect production since the crushing process has only been in
force for about a month.

"We may revise the production again by early April," said Mr Sirivuth,
adding that the sugar crushing season will come to a close by the end of
April.

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Link to Original Article:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/1180833/sugar-yield-quells-ethanol-
shortage-fear

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com