Traders expect a good year for sugar

The Philippine sugar industry expects higher yield from Luzon and Mindanao, where warm weather has helped boost production, industry stakeholders said.

Archimedes Amarra of Roxas Holdings Inc. said the Philippine Sugar Board may in fact review its production forecast by next month in response to reports of improved sugarcane production.

Amarra used to be the executive director of the industry group Philippine Sugar Millers Association Inc.

As of Jan. 8, sugar output reached 882,956.85 metric tons. It was 24.77 percent higher than the 707,672.91 metric tons reported in the same period last year.

The present crop year, 2011-2012, will end in August.

Also, Philippine sugar millers and traders are prepared to meet any potential additional sugar quota from the United States, Amarra said.

Industry players are confident that they can export more of the commodity to the US market.

The sugar industry is prepared to ship at least 100,000 metric tons of sugar to the United States, on top of the 138,000 metric tons allocated to the Philippines for crop year 2011-2012.

The Philippines, which has been a reliable exporter of sugar, is one of the countries given an annual export allocation of premium sugar to the United States.

The Philippines expects to ship out some 670,000 metric tons, or 28 percent, of total sugar production this crop year.

Earlier, the Sugar Regulatory Administration had to lower its production estimates for crop year 2011-2012 to to 2.2 million metric tons, from 2.42 million metric tons, citing possible effects of La Niña weather disturbance on the crops.