The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has rejected a proposal by farmers to move to August the start of milling to prevent lower yield.
SRA said the start of operations of sugar mills in the Philippines will start by September 1 as scheduled.
Pablo Azcona, SRA acting administrator, said data shows earlier start of milling operations last year caused lower production as well as missed opportunities for farmers worth at least P700 million.
“I ran a simulation when 432,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar milled in August and sold at August 2022 average price of P2,800, it came to about P1.8 billion. We tried it on actual facts and numbers in September with same amount of sugarcane with yield and price points of P3,300, it went up to about P2.5 billion. It was a big difference of P700 million, especially the people who milled in August are our small farmers beneficiaries,” Azcona said.
The SRA added based on hectarage, around 5,750 farmers missed the opportunity to earn a total of at least P700 million.
“The official start of crop year is September 1 and that is based on science, maturity of cane and when its ideal to cut the cane. We should respect the science behind it,” Azcona said.
He said with this schedule, farmers will have the opportunity to choose their sugar mill based on efficiency, incentive offers and based on the help that the mill extends to farmers.The SRA said mills which open first usually get more farmer customers.
The agency added retail price of refined sugar remains steady as supply is stable.
The Sugar Council composed of the Confederation of Sugar Producers’ Associations Inc., National Federation of Sugarcane Planters and Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers asked the SRA to consider advancing the start of the milling season, citing sugar canes that were planted early need to be harvested soon to avoid a drop in their quality.
Based on Department of Agriculture’s latest monitoring of public markets in the National Capital Region as of yesterday, prevailing retail price of sugar ranges from P85 to P110 per kg for refined sugar, P82 to P90 per kg for washed sugar and P78 to P90 for brown sugar.
Meanwhile, SRA millsite monitoring showed composite price of raw sugar as of July 9 was P3,000 per 50 kg bag.
