By CESAR JOLITO III
The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said sugar production for the next crop year is expected to decline by seven to nine percent but expressed hope that mill gate prices will improve due to the current oversupply of raw sugar.
SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona explained that the country produced around 2.085 million tons of raw sugar during the previous crop year, while actual domestic demand for raw sugar was only about 1.2 million tons.
This resulted in an estimated excess of about 800,000 tons of raw sugar, much of which came from Mindanao.
Azcona said the oversupply contributed to the drop in mill gate prices, noting that local refineries can only process around 600,000 tons of raw sugar annually.
“If refiners do not cooperate and choose not to refine raw sugar, the country will continue to experience an excess of raw sugar and a shortage in refined sugar,” Azcona said.
He also clarified that raw sugar produced late in the milling season cannot easily be refined months later because the quality and color of the sugar deteriorate over time.
According to him, some mills attempted to refine older sugar by blending 70 percent new sugar with 30 percent old sugar but still failed to produce white refined sugar.
He added that refined sugar demand in the country consistently ranges from 950,000 to 1.1 million tons annually, while refinery output remains insufficient to meet the requirement.
Azcona reiterated his position on the long-standing debate over sugar importation, urging stakeholders to distinguish between raw and refined sugar issues.
He stressed that mill gate prices are based on raw sugar, while refined sugar shortages stem from limited refining capacity.
The SRA chief also pointed out that refining operations are privately controlled and are beyond the SRA’s direct authority.
He explained that refinery owners make business decisions based on profitability, including whether to use bagasse for refining, ethanol production or electricity generation.
He added that despite high raw sugar stocks, the country may still need to import refined sugar if domestic refining capacity remains inadequate./CJ, WDJ