The country’s raw sugar output in the current crop year has already reached 2.485 million metric tons (MMT), 11.03 percent higher than the 2.238 MMT recorded in crop year (CY) 2015-2016.
The latest data from the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) showed that as of July 9, the local sugar industry has produced 49.691 million 50-kilogram (Lkg) bags.
Sugar production as of July 9 is nearing the SRA’s revised target of 2.5 MMT for CY 2016-2017, which will end on August 31.
It is also the highest since CY 1976-1977, when output reached 2.685 MMT, according to data from the Philippine Sugar Millers Association Inc.
SRA Administrator Anna Rosario V. Paner earlier said local sugar production could breach 2.5 MMT due to the expansion in areas planted with sugarcane.
Data from the SRA showed that sugarcane areas in the current CY expanded by 1.87 percent to 419,207 hectares, from 411,502 has last year.
The volume of sugarcane milled in CY 2016-2017 reached 27.8 MMT, the highest posted since CY 2008-2009 and is 19.55 percent higher than the previous year’s record of 23.254 MMT.
However, milling recovery rate in the current crop year was down by 7.22 percent to 1.80 Lkg/ton, from 1.94 Lkg/ton a year ago.
Data from the SRA also showed that the mill-site price of sugar continued on its downward trend and skidded to its 17-week low. As of July 9 the mill-site price of sugar averaged P1,344/Lkg, nearly 25 percent lower than the P1,784.92/Lkg recorded in September 2016.
Of the total sugar output for the current crop year, 74 percent was allocated to the domestic market, while 6 percent will be shipped to the US under a preferential trade scheme. The remaining 20 percent would be exported to other countries.
Earlier, the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced that the Philippines was again granted the same tariff-rate quota (TRQ) allocation of 142,160 metric tons raw value (MTRV) for fiscal year 2018.
The USTR said the allocation was based on the country’s historical shipments to the US.
The Philippines was given the third-largest allocation of the total 1.117 million MTRV in-quota quantity of the TRQ, next to the Dominican Republic and Brazil, which received 185,335 MTRV and 152,691 MTRV, respectively.
Countries authorized by the US to export sugar under the TRQ scheme may do so at lower duties. The TRQ is the minimum amount to which the US committed under the World Trade Organization agreement.
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