Large buyers of sugar are sour on a price cut by Taiwan Sugar Corp (Taisugar,
Taisugar said yesterday that it was lowering prices by NT$1.5 per kilogram to NT$15 for wholesalers and companies that consume large quantities of sugar.
Despite the reduction, buyers said prices were still too high.
"Taisugar, which accounts for nearly 80 percent of the nation's sugar market, is still capable of manipulating prices," said Sunny Chen (
Taisugar had at one point controlled the entire market.
But its dominant position is under threat as the government gradually opens up the sugar industry to competition.
Over the past 10 years, the association has urged Taisugar and the government to open up the market more to international sugar importers.
Chen said cheaper prices were available elsewhere, but government limitations prevents consumers from getting the lowest price possible.
"With imported sugar, prices could further be lowered to NT$10 to NT$12 per kilogram," Chen said, adding that the liberalization of the sugar market has come at a pace "slower than the nation's democratization."
Taisugar yesterday claimed on its Web site that the company's lower prices were based on market prices in London and additional "necessary costs."
Chen said the association plans to ask Taisugar to explain what those "necessary costs" are.
Another food association also called on the government to fully open up the nation's sugar market, in which 500,000 tonnes of sugar are consumed annually.
According to the group, sugar in London traded for US$248 per tonne on Monday. That works out to NT$8.4 per kilogram.
Adding NT$2 per kilogram to cover shipping costs, tariffs and customs insurance, local sugar prices should be no more than NT$11 per kilogram, the group said.
"Taisugar should stop inflating prices," a representative for the group said.
Officials from Taisugar yesterday were not available for comment. Lee Jen-chyun (
Lee noted that the government has already mapped out a schedule for the liberalization of the market in accordance with trade deals made as a condition of Taiwan's WTO entry.
For this year, 120,000 tonnes of sugar will be open to importers from the private sector this year. But of the 60,000 tonnes available for bidding for the first half of this year, Taisugar has won the right to import 12,000 tonnes.
Bidding for the remaining 60,000 tonnes will be held on June 21.
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