Philippines sugar output to outpace demand

Philippine sugar output in the crop year 2010/11 is likely to outpace demand as production has so far exceeded a government forecast, with the country fast tracking shipments of the sweetener to the United States to meet a higher quota, the head of the industry's regulator said on Monday.
Output reached 2.033 million tonnes as of April 24, exceeding a December forecast of 1.965 million tonnes for the current crop year ending August and above estimated local demand, Regina Bautista-Martin, chief of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), told Reuters. "We might go higher than our projected demand of 2.2 million as many sugar mills are still operating," she said in a phone interview. Last month, Bautista-Martin had predicted output could top 2 million tonnes in the current crop year. Sugar output in 2009/10 totalled 1.97 million tonnes.