SRA hikes production target

MANILA, Philippines - The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) is raising its sugar production estimate for the year to 2.434 million metric tons (MT) from the inital projection of 2.356 (MT) made during the start of the cropping year.

At the start of the crop year, the SRA determined crop production to range between 2.356 million MT to 2.434 million MT. It adopted the lower range of the production outlook as an intial estimate.

“With good production figures being reported by our monitoring personnel, the SRA Board deemed it appropriate to adopt at this time the higher range of the estimate,” said SRA administrator Ma. Regina Martin.

At the tail end of the current crop year which is expected to end in June, raw sugar sugar production as of April 14, 2013 was placed at 2.295 million MT, up 13.83 percent from 2.016 million MT in the same period last year.

Refined sugar production also rose by 10.78 percent from 775,523 MT in April 2012 to 859,131 MT in April 2013.

Sugar demand for the current crop year increased as well as expected during the election period.

Domestic raw sugar demand as of April 14, 2013 rose 16.20 percent to 1.412 million MT from 1.215 million MT on April 15, 2012.

Refined sugar demand also rose 11.65 percent from 551,248 MT in April 2012 to 615,496 MT as of April 14, 2013.

Because of the good production, the SRA will not revise its sugar allocation for the current crop year.

“With healthy production figures, the SRA Board decided not to adopt any advance swapping or sugar conversion program for the remaining months of the crop year,” said Martin.

The SRA adopts sugar conversion programs when it needs to reallocate sugar from a particular classification to another to address supply concerns.

In the previous crop year, for instance, the agency adopted the advance swapping of “D” or world market sugar to “A” sugar due to additional US quota volume given to the Philippines.

The Philippines will keep its regular US sugar quota of 138,827 MT this year. Domestic demand is placed at 2.03 million MT, while world market requirement is placed at 247,000 MT.

Martin is expected to leave for Washington next week to push for the country’s US sugar quota.

The US Congress is currently deliberating on the 2013 Farm Bill, which includes provisions to the sugar program, which makes the United States a primary market for Philippine sugar exports.