INTEGRATED sugar and bioethanol producer Roxas Holdings Inc. said losses in the first six months of its fiscal year ending October hit P92 million, down 74.72 percent from P364 million in the the same period the previous fiscal year.
“RHI’s sugar operations were significantly affected by the drop in cane supply due to unfavorable weather conditions, the eruption of Taal Volcano in January and increased cane competition in the Batangas area. The Group’s milling operations in Negros fared better with a 7 percent increase in raw sugar production compared to the previous year,” said Pedro Roxas, RHI chairman.
Hubert Tubio, RHI president, said RHI is focused on crafting a roadmap for interventions that would increase the annual output for the sweetener.
Tubio said profit of RHI’s bioethanol segment decreased as feedstock costs soared during the first half of the crop year, resulting in lower production volume.
Tubio said RHI’s ethanol group is exploring the commercial production of ethyl alcohol to help in the fight against the corona virus 2019 (COVID19) pandemic.
RHI, principally through the PLDT/Smart Foundation, has contributed more than 90,000 liters of ethyl alcohol to various government units and other groups since March as the country intensified its fight against COVID19.
