Sugarcane output seen dropping due to El Niño

DOMESTIC sugarcane output could drop by up to 15 percent because of the droughts associated with the El Niño weather pattern, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said on Tuesday.

“The problem during the extended dry season is the growing cultivating stage because not everybody has access to water,” SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said.

“About 85 percent of our farmers will not have access to water, so we were estimating a 10- to 15-percent drop if we’re growing sugarcane during the dry season,” he added.

The estimated drop in production will be equivalent to 180,000 metric tons (MT) to 200,000 MT or about 4 million bags.

The impact of El Niño on sugarcane production will likely be seen in the next cropping season, Azcona said.

For now, however, he described the country’s situation as “looking good.”

“We’re just battling a bit of weather disturbances. We’ve had a little flooding in the south of Negros which will affect us a bit,” Azcona added.

As for prices, the SRA chief said that they were hoping to maintain a P3,000 farmgate price — equivalent to P60 per kilo — for raw sugar.

“When it comes to retail … we have a very ample supply of refined sugar compared to last year” when the country was at ‘the brink of a shortage.’”

In a related development, the Agriculture department on Tuesday said that it had received a donation of 4,000 metric tons (MT) or 80,000 bags of white refined sugar from the Bureau of Customs.

The sugar, which had been smuggled into the country from Thailand and seized at the Port of Batangas, will be sold at government-run Kadiwa stores.

“The said move is in compliance with the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to address the rising prices of basic commodities — particularly sugar — and achieve national food security,” the Agriculture department said.

Based on latest Sugar Regulatory Administration data, the country’s physical stock of raw sugar was at 262,328.30 MT, refined sugar at 448,106.45 MT and 148,264.29 MT molasses as of July 16.

As of July 31, the retail price of refined sugar in Metro Manila markets ranged from P86 to P110 per kilo, washed sugar was at P82 to P90, while a kilo of brown sugar was between P78 and P90.