PHL expects additional sugar allocation from US 

The Philippines is expecting 50,000 metric tons to 80,000 MT additional sugar allocation from the United States on top of the tradition quota allocation for fiscal year 2012-2013, the Sugar Regulatory Administration said Tuesday.   “We may have an additional allocation which may be announced second or third week of… [April],” said SRA administrator Ma. Regina Martin.   The SRA is firm on its position that the Philippines has enough capacity to serve the traditional US sugar quota volume of around 142,160 MT raw sugar value (MTRV), despite expectations of slower output.   The SRA has “anticipated the volume if granted the increase,” said Martin.   “We are anticipating fifty thousand to eighty thousand metric tons additional allocation, which is a more feasible estimate. One hundred thousand metric tons was a high-end request,” she noted.   The US quota for the Philippine market was 138,827 MT in fiscal year 2011-2012, with all Philippine commitments under the regular allocation delivered in time–the last tranche of 20,000 MT shipped on April 7, 2012.   The US maintains a raw sugar quota of 1.117 million MTRV for each cropping season under the Tariff Rate Quota Scheme, and distributed to preferred countries including Philippines.   The SRA is projecting a slower of 2.15 million MT from 2.24 million MT, due to low sucrose content of standing sugarcane crops.   As of March 11, 2012 raw sugar output reached 1.701 million MT or nearly 76 percent of the estimated 2.24 million MT.   The milling season will end this April. —VS, GMA News