Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations president Raymond V. Montinola said on Thursday, August 26, that the sugar industry needs to have an “All-B” domestic sugar allocation given that the production estimate of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) is projected at 2.099 million metric tons.
An anticipated second-year La Niña is shown as the reason for the low sugar production estimate, Montinola said.
This position is based on the SRA production estimates considering a double La Niña as the output of SRA summary where the recent rainfall forecast of PAGASA from August 2021 to January 2022 indicates similar condition of rainfall as of CY 2020-2021, he added.
Above normal rainfall is forecasted over the country for the months of November 2021 to January 2022, which is the maturity stage for most of our crops, he added.
And looking back at CY 2020-2021 is a La Niña crop year which has recorded a 25+ million in tons cane and the lowest average on LKG/TC for the past 20 years of 1.71 LKG/TC (Luzon1.57,Negros-1.71,Panay-1.64,Cebu/Leyte1.53-,Mindanao-1.85), Montinola said.
As of now, as the industry monitor the development of the La Niña, the 2.099 MMT is the projection for the incoming crop year 2021-2022, he added.
“Our recommendation is for the best interest of the consuming public that as industry we are able provide food security by having sustainable supply of domestic sugar as an agriculture product for our countrymen,” Montinola said.*