San Carlos Bioenergy plant to reopen

In the Philippines, the country's largest ethanol plant could restart production.

According to Rosemarie Gumera, manager of policy and planning at the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), the San Carlos Bioenergy plant, located in Negros Occidental, looks set to reopen as the price of locally produced sugarcane continues to fall.

San Carlos Bioenergy stopped making ethanol between 2010 and 2011, following a price hike in the cost of sugarcane. This saw 2010 ethanol production in the Philippines drop to just 9.89 million litres, compared the 23.28 million litres manufactured in 2009.

'Declining sugar prices are very encouraging for ethanol producers,' Gumera comments. 'The prices of sugarcane, which is dictated by the market price of sugar, has significantly dropped from as high as P2,000 to about P1,000 per bag. As of today, raw sugar stocks increased by 153% from last year, while stocks of refined sugar built up by 35%.'