The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said that all sugar to be produced in the coming crop year will again be classified for domestic use.
SRA administrator Pablo Azcona announced the policy in a statement on Thursday, August 14.
Sugar crop year in the Philippines starts in September and ends in August of the following year.
The SRA said that since 2022, all of the country’s local sugar production has been allotted for domestic consumption because the local sugar output, despite growth in production, has remained below the national demand.
Azcona added that the official start of the milling season for crop year 2025 to 2026 has been set on October 1 or the Monday closest to that date, following a three-year transition period to bring it back to the last quarter of the year.
However, he said that since October 1 will fall on a Wednesday, it may instead be declared on September 29.
Azcona said that as of August 14, there were still no official production figures for sugar crop year 2024 to 2025. But he said that as of July 27, total raw sugar produced had reached 2.084 million metric tons (MT), from almost 26 million MT of sugarcane milled in a total of 405,000 hectares (ha).
Out of the total area planted to sugarcane, 392,000 hectares or 96.8 percent were planted to sugar while the remaining 13,000 hectares were for bioethanol.
The output as of July 27 was already 8.5 percent higher than the previous crop year’s production of 1.92 million MT.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) earlier said the increase in raw sugar production in the country has shown the sector’s potential to hit production demand of 2.3 million MT, “given the right conditions and sustained support for the industry.”
The SRA said it will propose an P8-billion budget for soil rejuvenation and small scale irrigation that will cover about 160,000 hectares in a three-year period for the local sugar industry.
Azcona said the amount will be “crucial” along with a P1.2-billion funding for 20,000 hectares dedicated to the propagation of high-yielding varieties of sugarcane.
The SRA said the industry might also be granted P1 billion from the funds available under the Sugar Industry Development Act (SIDA) for the coming year.
The agency added there are ongoing moves to increase the annual SIDA funding from P2 billion to P5 billion, in consideration of the substantial contribution of the sugar industry to the national coffers.
The SIDA aims to help the sugar industry become competitive by allotting a yearly fund of P2 billion starting 2016. However, allocations for the fund have been fluctuating as it has not been utilized efficiently, as many farmers failed to comply with requirements of the banks for loans.
The SRA chief added that they remain optimistic about the growth trajectory of the sugar industry but he called on farmers to work with the government in preventing the spread of the Red Stripe Soft Scale Insect (RSSI) infestation that has affected over 3,200 hectares in Negros Island and Panay.
The SRA said it will soon soon start testing the actual sugar content of recovered canes from RSSI infestation, warning that a study in Egypt has shown that as much as 50 percent of the sugar content of canes could be lost.
The agency said at least two international cooperation programs with Japan and Brazil would help improve local production through sugarcane varietal exchange and propagation.
Based on the DA’s monitoring of public markets in the National Capital Region, prevailing retail price as of Wednesday (August 13) ranged from P74 to P90 per kilogram for refined sugar, P68 to P88 per kg for washed sugar and P65 to P90 per kg for brown sugar.
The SRA millsite monitoring also showed that the composite price of raw sugar as of May 19, when millers last operated, was at P2,415 per 50 kg bag.
