The SRA is urging the players in the sugar industry to invest in the co-generation of power and production of bio-ethanol amid the volatility of prices.
The sugar millers are being urged to put in more investments in power co-generation and production of bio-ethanol from sugarcane while the prices in the world market are volatile.
The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) is strengthening its product diversification by encouraging stakeholders, to include sugar millers, to invest more in the manufacture of bio-ethanol, which is produced using molasses, which is a by-product of the refining process.
According to SRA Policy and Planning Manager Rosemarie Gumera, the agency is needing more products from sugarcane that would benefit the farmers in order to have a fallback industry once a sudden drop in sugar prices would take place.
Two new bio-ethanol plants would operate in 2017 with over 60 million liters of combined capacity. These include Cavite Biofuels Producer and Progreen Agricorp Inc. or the formerly Emperador Distillery.
According to Gumera, the industry will bring total bio-ethanol production capacity of the existing eight facilities to up to 340 million liters or about half of the mandatory requirement.
Last year, oil companies were prompted to import much cheaper ethanol compared to those produced locally because the plants only had 282 million liters capacity as against the 522 million-liter demand.
The Department of Energy (DOE) projected that the requirement for bio-ethanol in 2017 is about 570 million liters.
Meanwhile, the SRA countered the pronouncements of oil companies that they should just be allowed to import all ethanol requirement to decrease the prices of power and gasoline fuel.
Gumera clarified that it is not the intention and spirit of the bio-ethanol program but rather, it is to develop the local industry and lessen the importation of fossil fuel.
But the SRA emphasized that its priority is still sugar mills for food consumption as an agency under the Department of Agriculture tasked to promote growth and development of the industry.