The Philippines' sugar exports in 2008/09 are projected to increase more than 51 percent to 280,000 tonnes even though production next season will fall due to high production costs, a senior official of the Philippine Sugar Millers Association (PSMA) said on Sunday.
PSMA Executive Vice-President Francisco Varua told Reuters on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the American Sugar Alliance that sweetener exports by Manila would reach the highest level in over 30 years. "That (sugar exports) will be one of the biggest since the 1970s," he said, adding the main export markets will be the tariff quota program in the US, Japan and South Korea.
But Philippine sugar production in 2008/09 should fell 10 percent from the 2.427 million tonnes of sugar produced in 2007/08, Varua said. "For next year, we will probably have a 10 percent drop because of the high cost of fertilisers, fuel and all other inputs," he said. With consumption flat at 1.95 million tonnes, Varua said Manila has more than enough stocks to increase exports for the 2008/09 season (September-August) despite the fall in production.
The PSMA official said they are asking permission from Washington to accelerate the shipment of 50,000 tonnes of sugar to the US under its import tariff program in the September to December period, which is the first part of their new season. The Philippines, which was one of the world's top sugar producers in the 1970s, has been a net importer of sugar over the last few years. It has managed to raise output by sowing higher yielding cane and this has allowed its farmers to produce a small surplus.
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