The country’s sugar production dropped by 96 percent in the first three weeks of the milling season that started on Sept. 15, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) chief said on Friday, Oct. 4.
SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona attributed the slow start of the milling season to the El Niño phenomenon but assured that the country has adequate supply of refined sugar.
Azcona assured that there will not be a shortage of refined sugar because on August 6 they decided to import, which has enabled retail prices to remain stable.
The importation will not be over 240,000 MT, and the refined sugar has already started entering the country, he said.
The importation will be over before local refining starts in early or mid-December, he assured.
Azcona said the raw sugar production in the first three weeks of milling this year was 5,645 tons compared to 134,780 tons in the same period in 2023.
He also said the sugar yield from the milled cane was 15 percent lower.
They really anticipated a slow start because of El Niño that delayed the growth of the sugarcane, and most of the big farmers are saying they will start milling on October 15, he said.
The peak of sugar milling season is expected to take off between the last week of October to the first week of November, he said.
He said millgate price of raw sugar at First Farmers Holding Corporation was P2,791 per Lkg, and it was P2,650 per Lkg at Victorias Milling Co.
The maturity of the farmers’ sugarcane is one month to two months delayed because of the El Niño, Azcona said.
A lot of mills and sugar organizations were claiming they were ready to mill but when milling started on Sept. 15 very little sugarcane went in the mills, he said.
The farmers are not yet ready to mill because they feel their sugarcane is still growing, Azcona said
They expect more yield if they delay a little more, he said.*