Immigration and Business in the Philippines: The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) of the Philippines recently stated that to meet the growing demand in the domestic market, the Philippines may halt sugar exports this year.
The sugar harvest season in the Philippines begins in September each year and ends in August of the following year. Ms. Martin, head of the Sugar Regulatory Administration of the Philippines, stated that during the 2014-2015 harvest season ending this August, the Philippines may have a surplus of 200,000 tons of sugar. The SRA is currently studying whether to allow this surplus to be exported to meet the export quota provided by the United States.
The Sugar Regulatory Administration of the Philippines expects that during the 2015-2016 harvest season, sugar production in the Philippines will reach 2.25 million to 2.35 million tons, while domestic market consumption will reach 2.2 million tons, noting that "Philippine sugar production is only sufficient to supply domestic demand."
Ms. Martin stated that the Sugar Regulatory Board of the Philippines will meet to decide on the final sugar production allocation before the new harvest season begins in September. Once it is agreed to allocate all production to the domestic market, the Philippines will no longer supply sugar to foreign markets, though it will develop plans to meet export commitments to the U.S. market.
The Philippines is one of the major sugar-producing countries in Southeast Asia. The sugar import quota provided by the United States to the Philippines for 2016 is 14.21 tons. According to the SRA, during the 2014-2015 period, due to adverse weather and other factors, sugarcane cultivation in the main sugar-producing regions of the Philippines was affected, resulting in a sugar production of 2.316 million tons, which is lower than the originally projected 2.46 million tons.