Sugar output slips 22.4% in late Dec
Credit to Author: Eireene Jairee Gomez| Date: Sat, 11 Jan 2020 16:16:46 +0000
LOCAL production of raw sugar continued to decline in late December, hitting 502,714 metric tons (MT), down 22.42 percent from 647,994 MT in the same month in 2018, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said.
In its latest weekly supply and demand situation report, the SRA said total raw sugar output in terms of 50-kilogram bags reached 10.054 million in the period, compared to 12.959 million in 2018.
Demand for the commodity also went down by 9.72 percent to 451,529 MT from the previous 500,129 MT.
The country’s production of refined sugar, meanwhile, reached 173,876 MT as of December 22, down 24.15 percent from 229,241 MT.
In terms of 50-kilogram bags, total output of refined sugar slid to 3.477 million from 4.584 million in December 2018.
Demand for the sweetener also fell by 9.67 percent to 340,633 MT from 377,084 MT.
During the period, total sugarcane milled reached 5.872 million MT, an 18.93-percent decline from 7.244 million MT a year earlier.
The wholesale price of raw sugar was at P1,650 per 50-kilogram bag, lower than last year’s P1,750. Refined sugar, on the other hand, remained at P2,200 per 50-kilogram bag year-on-year.
Sugar retail prices averaged P45 to P50 per kilo as of late December.
For the current crop year, the country’s raw sugar production is expected to decrease by 4.5 percent because of the decrease in production areas, and thus would still fall short in filling in total national requirement, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
In its Sugar Order 1 dated Sept. 4, 2019, the SRA said local sugar production was seen to reach 2.096 million MT for CY 2019-2020, which began last September until end of August 2020.