Entire sugar output next year alloted for local use

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s entire sugar production for the upcoming crop year will be allocated exclusively again for domestic consumption, according to the Sugar Regulatory Administration.

SRA administrator and CEO Pablo Luiz Azcona said all sugar produced in crop year 2025-2026 would be classified as B or domestic sugar.

Following a three-year transition period, Azcona said the Philippines is set to move the start of the milling season to Oct. 1, pushing it a month later from the traditional Sept. 1 schedule.

Since Oct. 1 falls on a Wednesday, the SRA official indicated that the sugar crop year could begin on Sept. 29, Monday.

Through the issuance of the first order in each crop year, the SRA board determines how the locally produced raw sugar will be allocated and sold, typically based on a supply-demand analysis.

The output is classified for specific purposes: A for export to the United States, B for domestic consumption, C for reserved sugar and D for export to the world market.

The B classification for the next crop year, marking the sixth time in a row, aims to ensure local stocks as current production remains insufficient to meet domestic demand.

As of July, the total raw sugar production reached 2.08 million metric tons (MT), according to SRA data.

The last time sugar production went past the two-million mark was in the crop year 2020-2021, when the total output reached 2.14 million MT.

During a recent convention in Cebu, Azcona said the SRA and Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. are set to propose an P8-billion budget for soil rejuvenation and small-scale irrigation to boost the industry.

“Our productivity in the past three years was largely due to the distribution of high-yielding variety canes, and SRA intends to focus on this along with other scientific approaches to farming that we have been learning from our foreign partners towards our self-sustainability,” Azcona said.

Amid pest infestation, Azcona has also urged sugar farmers to stay vigilant and work closely with the SRA in preventing the red-striped soft scale insect (RSSI) spread.

The RSSI infestation was said to have spread in over 3,200 hectares of sugarcane in Panay and Negros Island.

“These are validated field inspections, but the figures could be much higher, and its effects on our sugarcane are not yet known,” Azcona said.