SRA eyes add'l US sugar quota

MANILA, Philippines - The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said it is hopeful that the United States would allocate an additional sugar quota of 100,000 metric tons for the Philippines following early indications that some countries may not be able to fill their quota allocations.

On the sidelines of the first Philippine International Bioenergy Conference yesterday, SRA administrator Ma. Regina Bautista-Martin said the additional 100,000 MT, if granted, would come from the SRA’s US sugar quota allocation, or “A” allocation of which 46,000 MT remains out of the total allocation of 138,000 MT.

Under the SRA’s Sugar Order 1 for crop year 2011-2012, out of sugar allocation for the projected production of 2.2 million metric tons (MMT), eight percent is allocated for “A” while 72 percent is allocated for “B” or domestic use and 20 percent is allocated for “D” or for export to the world market.

 The current crop year started Sept. 1, 2011 and ends on Aug. 31, 2012.

The announced US sugar quota allocation for the Philippines is 144,901 metric ton raw value (MTRW) or 138,827 MT commercial weight (MTCW).

However, Martin, said she is “hoping” that the Office of the US Trade Representative will announce an additional sugar quota allocation by April this year.

“We are hoping that they will give us an additional allocation in light of the possibility that some countries may not be able to fill their quota allocations,” Martin told reporters.

She, however, refused to reveal which countries are not expected to fill their US quota allocation.

The SRA is not   allocating anything for “C” or reserve allocation because of the expected surplus production.

The Philippines, thus, will export at least 28 percent or 670,000 MT of its total sugar production.

Although the announced US sugar quota is lower at 144,901 MTRV or 138,827 MTCW, the SRA will allocate 192,000 MT to meet any additional demand from the US.

For the past sugar crop year 2010-2011, actual sugar production reached 2.399 MMT, much higher than the projected production of just 1.9 MMT.

Thus, for the previous crop year, the SRA had not made any allocation for the world market, but around 137,000 MT was sold to the other markets which include Japan, Taiwan, China, South Korea and Indonesia.