By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) is now in the process of collating figures to determine the actual volume of sugar for importation this month.

SRA acting administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said the directive from President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. was to ensure the final import volume must be based on the latest supply report with a provision that it should not be more than 150,000 metric tons (MT).

“This will include additional buffer volume of 100,000 MT especially if we consider delaying the opening of mills to September 2023, instead of August, to increase productivity,” Azcona said.

He assured sugar stakeholders that they are carefully studying the supply condition before they peg the final figures.

He added that among the causes of a big drop in refined sugar production for this crop year were shortened refining operations, lack of bagasse that fuels the mills, and massive rains, particularly in Negros Island, which provides more than half of the country’s sugar produce.

According to Azcona, as of May 7, only 11 of 24 sugar mills are still in operation and a majority of them will close down this month.

The sudden closure of the Central Azucarera de Don Pedro in Batangas also affected local supply.

Actual production in the same period reached 1,760,840 MT, and another 20,000 MT from remaining mills, which is below the forecast demand of 2.2 million MT.

“Needless to say, we will soon be conducting consultations with various stakeholders on what we can do in preparation for the next milling season to improve productivity towards self-sufficiency, and again, we may strongly consider delaying the opening of the milling season as part of the solution,” he said./DGB, WDJ