Philippines to export more sugar to U.S.

The Philippines was able to secure an additional 60,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar which it can export to the United States on top of the approved export quota of 136, 000 MT.


In a statement on Friday, Philippines' Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said they met with U.S. counterparts to request for the additional quota, but added that they may not fill up the entire volume.


SRA Administrator Ma. Regina BautistaMartin said in an interview with Xinhua that they will still hold discussions with the local sugar industry players for the final inventory and might export only 40,000 MT to 50,000MT of the additional in-quota quantity.


"But right now, the demand for sugar in the Philippines has dropped which is why we can divert some of our production to the U. S.," Martin said.


SRA said the growing competition in the world is likely to lower the prices of sugar, making the U.S. market more important.


"The local sugar industry is willing to pay short-term opportunity costs by supplying the U.S. market today in order to enjoy long-term benefits in terms of access to the U.S. market in the future," SRA said.


The Philippines is one of the select countries that are given an annual allocation of sugar export to the U.S. market at a premium.


Martin said they expect sugar output for crop year 2010-2011 to reach 1.96 million MT, barely unchanged from the 1.97 million MT in crop year 2009-2010.
(Source:http://news.xinhuanet.com)