SRA seeks more time to ship add’l sugar export quota to US

MANILA, Philippines - The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) will ask the United States for an extension for the shipment of the additional export allocation of 14,199 metric tons of (MT) raw cane sugar due for September as the current cropping season is already drawing to a close, SRA administrator Ma. Regina Martin said yesterday.

In an interview on the sidelines of the Responsible Business Forum on Food and Agriculture held in Makati, Martin said the SRA has received official notice of the reallocation from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) last week.

The US has given the Philippines an additional sugar allocation of more than 14,199 metric tons on top of the 138,000 MT of the regular US sugar quota for crop year 2013-2014.

The additional export volume given to the Philippine is part of the 99, 290 MT reallocated by the US from countries that could not fill their export commitments.

Aside from the Philippines, 24 other countries received additional sugar allocations.

“We have confirmed with the USDA (US Department of Agriculture) that there was a reallocation,” said Martin. “But it will be for this crop year and so I will have to make a request to the US if there can be an extension or not have a deadline.”

She said that to date, the Philippines has already shipped more than 120,000 metric tons to the US out of its regular quota for the current crop year which ends in August.

“So if we will be allowed, we can ship the volume by the end of the year or early next year along with the regular quota,” said Martin.

A month into the closing of the sugar crop year, some 2.44 million MT of sugar had already been produced, a flat growth from 2.45 million MT produced in the previous crop year.

This, however, was higher than the revised production estimate of 2.35 million MT for this year in consideration of the damage inflicted by Typhoon Yolanda on five percent of the country’s total sugar cane cultivation area of 420,000 hectares.

“Sugarcane being a resilient crop, it survived and we surpassed out production estimate,” said Martin.

Two small mills, located in Ormoc and Negros, would close operations mid-August with a “very small” contribution to the total sugar already produced.

There are still some 1,000 hectares of cane in Ormoc that have not yet been harvested and because of difficulties encountered by farmers in harvesting.

“These are farmers who were affected by the typhoon who have been having difficulties harvesting their cane. Bur the millers have committed to lend them harvesters,” said Martin.

The SRA would determine this week the sugar production target as well as the allocation for the domestic, US and world market.

Two mills in Negros would commence early production mid-August for the next cropping season that officially begins in September, said Martin.

“We will determine the final consumption figure needed for the allocation. Right now, the domestic consumption is placed at 2.2 million MT, higher than 2. 1 million MT last year,” said Martin.