Vietnam is expected to sell some 400,000 tons of sugar to China in 2014 to help remove inventory, said Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) on Monday.

According to the MoIT, so far in 2014, some 200,000 tons of sugar has already been licensed to export to China. After finishing the deal, the ministry will continue to give licenses to the other 200,000 tons of sugar.

Following the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)'s calculation, Vietnam's sugar inventory in 2014 is expected to hit 400,000 tons, Vietnam Industry and Trade Information Center (VITIC) under MoIT said on its website on Monday.

The estimated sugar stockpile in the year is likely attributed to domestic oversupply of sugar with 200,000 tons, in addition with 77,000 tons imported sugar following Vietnam's commitments to the World Trade Organization, while the rest is from smuggled sugar, said the MARD.

To further facilitate the sugar exports to China, Vietnam Sugarcane Association was quoted by VITIC on Monday as saying that MARD and MoIT should allow Vietnamese companies to export its sugar to China at non-restricted volume and types as well as license-free.

However, for sugar, licenses need to be made ahead of its exports as it is among price stabilization commodities, said MARD.

According to MARD, domestic prices of sugar stay low but stable. In northern Vietnam, sugar is currently sold at 60 US cents per kilogram while that of central and southern area is over 61.61 US cents per kilogram thanks to increasing demand of local people during hot weather.