BACOLOD City – The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) justified why the sugar mill reopening will be in September despite the request of the Sugar Council to have it next month.
Sugar Regulatory Administrator Pablo Azcona said yesterday “delaying the mill reopening to Sept. 1 was based on two premises: higher yield in terms of LKG/TC (kilogram bag per ton of cane) and, correspondingly, an increase in revenue for our sugar farmers, particularly the smaller ones that we need to protect.”
The SRA top official held a press conference to answer the position of the Sugar Council which is composed of three sugar federations – the Confederation of Sugar Producers’ Associations, Inc., the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters and the Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers.
Producers are looking forward to the start of milling season this August because the canes they planted after their early harvest last year are already ripe for milling.
According to Azcona, they released an advisory as early as May, and he had met with all three concerned federations individually post-issuance of the deferment memo.
The Sept. 1 mill reopening is the first in a series of deferments in the next three years to return to the original mill opening, Oct. 1.
“By 2025, we will be back on track with the hope that our annual production will increase,” Azcona added.
Azcona explained that they conducted a simulation of the August and September production last year, wherein August figures showed 432,000 tons of canes were milled with an average LKG/TC of 1.4 at an average price then of P2,800 per Lkg bag of sugar, or a total of P1.8 billion in revenues.
The same volume of canes milled a month later yielded an average LKG/TC of almost 1.7 at an average price then of P3,300 per LKg bag of sugar or a total of P2.5 billion.
“It’s a big difference of about P700 million, which could have been additional income for our farmers, especially since most if not all of those who milled in August of last year were our small farmer-beneficiaries,” Azcona said.
Newly appointed member to the SRA Board representing the planters Dave Sanson has been doing the rounds of consultation with small farmers.
“We want to veer away from dependency on sugar importation and improve our productivity as soon as possible, and if allowing canes to grow longer to have a better yield is one solution, then SRA will implement it, bearing in mind the advantages it will give to the small farmers especially,” he added.
Azcona further said that he would meet with sugar millers soon to propose making the date deferment an opportunity for them to leverage themselves with sugar farmers.
“If mills can provide early assistance to farmers in lieu of assured cane supply when milling starts, then it will also give our farmers an opportunity to choose where to mill based on best offer and best performance, thus making better business sense for mills to improve their capability as well,” he added./PN
