Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) revised its sugar production forecast

(GMA News) – The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) revised its sugar production forecast to 2.242 million metric tons (MT) from 2.4 million MT for crop-year 2011-2012.

“The revised forecast of 2.242 million MT was officially adopted during the December 15 board meeting,” SRA manager for planning Rosemarie Gumera said Monday.

The SRA explained that a 14-percent increase in milled cane as well as a 6-percent increase in land area planted to sugarcane do not compensate for the decrease in cane tonnage.

Early last month, the SRA revealed that while the weekly sugar production indicated a 74.58-percent increase, planters claimed that the amount of harvested canes per hectare actually decreased by 20 percent.

They noted that lower production can be attributed to a shorter milling period, with stunted canes and caused farms to finish the harvest season earlier than expected.

The sugar agency said it will implement the necessary measures to ensure that the sugar supply can meet demands in 2012.

Gumera said that the SRA can adjust the amount of sugar allocated for world export if production does not meet expectations.

For crop-year 2011-2012, which started last September, the agency has allocated up to 600,000 MT raw sugar for export to other countries, including a 224,549 MT raw value allocation for the US quota program. The amount will bring the crop-year stock to less than 400,000 by Aug. 31, 2012.

As of Nov 28, 2011, Philippine sugar producers have exported as much as 261,706 MT of raw sugar to the world market and 93,164 MT to the United States.

The country exports raw sugar to the United States under the Tariff Rate Quota Scheme. The tariff rate quota allows countries to export specified quantities of a product to the United States at a relatively low tariff.

Exported sugar goes to the US, Vietnam, Korea, Indonesia, China, Japan and Taiwan.