International Sugar Companies Implicated in Cambodian Land-Grabbing

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THAI HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION RECOGNIZES HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS BY SUGAR COMPANY- A MAJOR STEP FOR JUSTICE FOR KOH KONG FARMERS.

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International Sugar Companies Implicated in Cambodian Land-Grabbing

July 26, 2012
Originally posted at: http://www.boycottbloodsugar.net/

On Eve Of Key Trial In Cambodian Court, Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission Finds Evidence Of Human Rights Violations While Industry Sugar Association Hears Complaint Against U.K.’s Tate & Lyle Sugars Against Backdrop of Global Sugar Boycott.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia — More than five years after three villages and hundreds of farmers in Koh Kong Province, Cambodia had their lands illegally confiscated to make way for a major international sugar plantation connected to leading Thai, U.K, U.S., and Taiwanese corporations, the Koh Kong Provincial Court of First Instance will finally hear arguments on July 26, 2012. The long-running dispute pits residents of Chikor Leu commune’s villages of Trapeang Kandol, Chhouk and Chikor of Koh Kong’s Srae Ambel District against the companies, Koh Kong Sugar Industry Co., Ltd. (KKS) and Koh Kong Sugar Plantation Co., Ltd. (KKP) over an Economic Land Concession (ELC), that resulted in wide-spread displacement, severe livelihood impacts, and violent human rights violations; two-hundred and twenty villages from the affected communities are plaintiffs in the case, all of whom are appearing before the court on the hearing date.

Civil society organizations in Cambodia released a statement on the legal case this week affirming their support for the impacted communities.

The two implicated companies, KKP and KKS are 70% owned by leading Thai corporation Khon Kaen Sugar Industry Public Company Limited (KSL) which exercises effective control over operations in Cambodia and receives 100% of the processed sugar from the two Cambodian land concessions. Taiwanese Ve Wong Corporation holds 30% of both subsidiary companies, while powerful Cambodian Senator Ly Yong Phat formerly held shares in both subsidiary companies before allegedly relinquishing these stake-holdings in 2010. The sugar produced in Cambodia is then sold to U.K.’s Tate & Lyle Sugars, a subsidiary of Tate & Lyle that was recently acquired by U.S. American Sugar Refinery Company.

Court date set for Koh Kong farmers

CPP Land-thief Ly Yong Phat (L)

Wednesday, 25 July 2012
Chhay Channyda
The Phnom Penh Post

More than six years after a sugar company bulldozed their farms in Koh Kong province, some 200 families who have held out ever since, arguing the action was illegal, will finally get their day in court on Thursday.

Seng Kao, one of 24 villager representatives from Chikhor Leu village in Sre Ambel district, said 100 villagers will join them at the provincial court as they make their case.

“We are ready and have witnesses and evidence, such as family books, identity cards, election cards, local administration lists and letters recognized by commune authorities that we have occupied the land since 1979,” He said.

In August 2006, a joint venture now majority owned by Thai firm Khon Kaen Sugar Industry Public Co Ltd and then part-owned by Senator Ly Yong Phat was awarded a roughly 20,000-hectare economic land concession in Chikhor Leu commune.

Tales of ‘blood-stained’ sugar

Ly Yong Phat (L) sitting next to Kith Meng (C) and Hun To (R)

Wednesday, 04 July 2012
Chhay Channyda and David Boyle
The Phnom Penh Post

The European Union should immediately remove trade preferences it gives to Cambodian sugar companies accused of human-rights violations including land grabs, representatives of the affected communities told a press conference in Phnom Penh yesterday.

Community representatives from Koh Kong, Kampong Speu and Oddar Meanchey provinces said exemptions from EU import duties or quotas granted under the Everything But Arms principle were rewarding politicians and foreign businessmen exploiting the poor.

Their calls come after the Post reported on June 19 fresh exploitation allegations against ruling CPP Senator Ly Yong Phat’s Phnom Penh Sugar Company by workers that fled one of the firm’s complexes in Kampong Speu province.

[Thai] Khon Kaen Sugar Cuts Sales Growth Forecast to Zero [-It may incur a loss in sugar mills in Cambodia]

By Rattaphol Onsanit

Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Khon Kaen Sugar Industry Pcl, Thailand’s biggest publicly traded miller, cut its sales growth forecast to zero from 20 percent as the global recession caps prices and said it may book losses on two overseas plants.

“Our sales may be flat or slightly higher” in the year to October, President Chamroon Chinthammit said today in an interview in Bangkok, the Thai capital. “We are being realistic as the price is not as high as our expectation.”

The global recession has hurt commodity prices, including for food staples, amid concern that reduced consumer spending will erode demand. There may be a loss between 30 million baht ($856,000) and 40 million baht this year from Khon Kaen Sugar’s two mills in neighboring Laos and Cambodia, Chamroon said.

“The outlook for Khon Kaen Sugar is not so bright this year, said Touchcha Pattarasaengthai, an analyst at Trinity Securities Ltd. “Operations in Laos and Cambodia aren’t very good,” and may lose a total of 150 million baht, Touchcha estimated.

Khon Kaen Sugar, which has a market value of 9.8 billion baht, lost 58 percent over the past year compared with the SET Index’s 45 percent drop. Eight of the 10 analysts whose calls are tracked by Bloomberg advise investors to buy the shares, which traded unchanged today at 6.35 baht at 10:23 a.m.

Global Recession

Thailand, Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy, may enter its first recession in a decade this quarter, according to the Finance Ministry. Recessions in the world’s largest economies will last for years, according to a forecast yesterday from BP Plc Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward.

“We can’t say that the recession has no effect on us, although sugar is a food staple,” Chamroon said, without giving a 2009 profit forecast. Sugar and molasses accounted for 79 percent of Khon Kaen’s sales in the 12 months to last October.

The Laos and Cambodian plants may begin test runs in March instead of this month as originally planned, and have yet to start full production, Chamroon said. The delay was caused by regulatory issues, the company president said.

Raw-sugar futures on ICE Futures U.S. in New York have gained 6.6 percent over the past year, and traded yesterday at 13.5 cents a pound. The white-sugar contract on London’s Liffe exchange has advanced 9.7 percent and was at $391.10 a ton.

No growth in sales in the year to October 2009 would be Khon Kaen Sugar’s worst performance since 2005, when revenue shrank 5.7 percent, according to Bloomberg data. Last year, sales advanced 24 percent to 11.07 billion baht and profit rose 2.8 percent to 859.5 million baht.

Khon Kaen Sugar Assistant Vice President Chanachai Chutimavoraphand forecast in September that revenue may expand by a fifth this year. The gain would be driven “mainly by higher prices,” Chanachai said then, adding that some forward sales contracts had been agreed at about 13 cents a pound.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rattaphol Onsanit in Bangkok at
ronsanit@bloomberg.net