Thai cane farmers switching to cassava amid cane price plunge, disease, Green Pool says
Thai cane farmers are shifting to cassava as sugar prices drop and white leaf disease hurts yields. With the 2025/26 cane price falling 22%, many growers cannot cover costs. Sugar output may rise slightly this season but could decline in 2026/27, reflecting ongoing disease pressure and stronger cassava demand.
LONDON, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Cane farmers in Thailand, the world’s second-largest sugar exporter after Brazil, are switching to cassava as prices for the sugary crop plunge and fields in some parts of the country battle a disease outbreak, analyst Green Pool said.
Ample supplies in Thailand and beyond pushed global sugar prices to five-year lows last month, but the market is starting to creak under the heavy price pressure, with farmers looking at trimming back output.
According to Green Pool, which recently completed a Thai crop tour, the initial government-set Thai cane price for 2025/26 is expected down an annual 22% at 900 Thai baht ($28.29) a metric ton, a level that will not allow farmers to cover their costs.
Added to this, some farmers in the upper north-east removed heavily diseased crops mid-year and planted cassava, while others said they plan to do so when diseased crops are harvested later this year and early next year.
As such, Green Pool now expects Thailand’s 2025/26 (October to September) sugar output to jump just 6% year-on-year to 10.7 million tons.
Looking ahead to 2026/27, the analyst said local sources it spoke to in Thailand estimate output could fall 7.5% to 9.9 million tons. Green Pool will publish its official 2026/27 Thai output estimates in January.
“Our team came back pretty pessimistic with the current crop, and what they heard from farmers regarding pricing of competing crops like cassava, and continued disease risk, (is) probably also a bad sign for the next crop,” said Green Pool CEO Eder Vieito.
Parts of Thailand, especially key growing area the northeast, have this year experienced high levels of white leaf disease, a bacterial plant ailment spread by insects or infected planting material.
Cassava prices in Thailand have meanwhile improved over the past six months, according to Green Pool, thanks to stronger demand from key consumer China and minimal imports from Cambodia after the closing of the border.00:12Trump says he will make phone call on Thailand-Cambodia conflict
The global sugar market is set to record a surplus of 1.63 million tons this season, according to the International Sugar Organisation, but industry experts say the 2026/27 season could look altogether different if prices remain depressed.
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Source : Reuters
