NANNING Lionel Messi Argentina Jersey , Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- China's embattled sugar industry, facing pressure from foreign competitors and technological shortcomings, is caught in the middle of a year-long sales crisis.
According to latest statistics from the China Sugar Association (CSA), manufacturers delivered about 13,318,000 tonnes of sugar in the 20132014 "sugar-making period," which lasted from last October to September this year.
But sales of sugar is a mere 77 percent of the same period last year Leandro Paredes Argentina Jersey , with 10.24 million tonnes sold by the end of August.
With winter, the industry's slowest season, coming soon the worrisome situation shows no signs of getting better anytime soon.
In Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China's biggest producer of sugar, some 1.5 million tones of sugar remains in shops. Local farmers are still waiting anxiously for 1.9 billion yuan (309.4 million U.S. dollars) of unpaid money for the sugar cane they sold, according to CSA's Guangxi branch.
Cheng Weijun, who manages the department that oversees trade with the farmers at the East Asia Sugar Factory in Guangxi's Chongzuo City Javier Mascherano Argentina Jersey , has felt the pinch in a period usually marked by booming sales.
"By mid-September, only 70 percent of our sugar has been purchased," he said.
The factory produced about 220,000 tonnes of sugar in the 20132014 period, which should be sold at least 5,000 yuan per tonne to avoid losses. But as tepid business cast its spell, sugar price is set at around 4 Giovani Lo Celso Argentina Jersey ,300 yuan, eating away at profits for factories like East Asia.
"It's been a tough year for us," Cheng said.
The spiraling-down industry has taken its toll on farmers as well. Huang Zongxin, manager of the farm business department of Guangxi Funan East Asia Sugar Co. Ltd, said that some farmers have stopped growing sugarcane because of disappointing sales.
"Out of 580,000 mu (38,667 hectars) of our sugarcane planting bases German Pezzella Argentina Jersey , about 48,000 mu has been changed for vegetables and fruits," Huang told Xinhua.