ATIGA severely affecting Vietnamese domestic sugar industry

The Vietnamese sugar industry is continuing to face difficulties due to increased competition from imported sugar due to the ATIGA - an FTA between Vietnam and ASEAN countries - as well as the second wave of the pandemic in Vietnam. A lot of sugar manufacturers are exiting the market in Vietnam and are turning to produce other more profitable commodities such as fruits. In the Northside of Vietnam, only 3 sugar factories remain and even they have significantly reduced their operations to minimize the production cost - currently, prices tend to be lower than the production cost.