Potential markets for sugar exports cited

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines could potentially ship sugar to India, Korea, Indonesia and the Middle East, according to the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA).

In an announcement on its website, the SRA said state-owned Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC) has identified export opportunities for refined and raw sugar from these countries.

PITC, established in 1973, is the only state-owned international trading corporation mandated to promote local export commodities especially those from small and medium enterprises and undertake bulk importation of strategic raw commodities to secure domestic supply and stabilize local prices.

Only buyers from India and Korea have so far provided specifications.

The SRA said PITC’s potential buyers from India are interested in procuring an initial 100 to 200 metric tons (MT) of refined sugar of S-30 and M-30 grade. 

The volume may increase to 500 to 800 MT, expanding to between 1,000 to 1,500 MT by the second semester of 2013.

Buyers from Korea are interested in procuring 1,500 MT of refined white sugar per month.

The sugar content per shipment should be 90 percent with a brightness of 19 to 20.

Korean buyers are also interested in importing 12,500 MT of raw sugar monthly with a trial shipment of 3,000 MT to 5,000 MT.

The Philippines intends to produce 2.356 million MT of sugar for crop year 2012-2013.

The SRA is currently implementing measures to help farmers increase productivity and lower production costs ahead of the implementation of free trade within the ASEAN region in 2015.

It is launching the second phase of its block farming scheme this year in Bacolod, under which small sugar farms are grouped together to make the production chain easier and less costly.

The first phase of the program was carried out in Batangas in the previous crop year.

SRA expects production to speed up during the summer and finish ahead of the close of the current cropping year in late August to early September.