At the Ministry of Industry and Trade's first-ever auction on sugar import quotas yesterday, eleven firms won bids. — Photo vietnamfinance.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — At the Ministry of Industry and Trade's first-ever auction on sugar import quotas yesterday, eleven firms won bids.

Viet Nam must import 85,000 tonnes of sugar this year, following its commitment to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The commitment includes 40,000 tonnes of raw sugar and 45,000 tonnes of refined sugar.

The first-time public auction was created to ensure transparency, the ministry said.

According to Phan Thi Dieu Ha, Deputy Director of the ministry's Import-Export Department, there were 22 valid bids out of 25 participants.

Three companies won bids for import quotas of raw sugar, namely Bien Hoa Sugar Joint Stock Company, Thanh Thanh Cong Tay Ninh Sugar and Sugarcane Company and Khanh Hoa Sugar Company, securing a total import quota of 39,998 tonnes.

Eight winners for import quotas of refined sugar included URC Viet Nam, Puratos Grandplace Viet Nam, Perfetti Van Melle, Coca Cola Viet Nam, Nestle Viet Nam, Vinamilk, Sanofi Synthelabo Viet Nam, and a member of Trung Nguyen Group.

For sugar within quotas, tariffs were set at 5 per cent on goods imported from ASEAN countries. From other countries, the tariffs were 25 per cent on raw sugar and 40 per cent on refined sugar.

For sugar outside quotas, tariffs were placed at 80 per cent and 85 per cent on raw and refined sugar, respectively.

Sugar prices have been on an upward trend since the year's beginning, up between 20-30 per cent over the same period last year, due to drops in output of 2015-16 crop caused by drought and salt invasion, according to the ministry.

Previously, the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed to import an additional 200,000 tonnes of sugar and received the Government's approval for an additional import quota of 100,000 tonnes, a move that augments the WTO's 85,000 tonne quota and Hoang Anh Gia Lai's 30,000 tonnes from Laos.

Sugar stockpiles were estimated to surpass 400,000 tonnes in July, according to Viet Nam Sugar cane and Sugar Association, which estimated that sugar imports and smuggled sugar might push supply surplus to 200,000 tonnes this year.

Vu Thi Huyen Duc, the association's deputy president said that sugar output for the coming 2016-17 crop was expected at 1.4 million tonnes, 50 per of which was refined sugar. — VNS