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CENTRAL Azucarera de Tarlac (CAT) said revenues last
year rose on the back of higher production and market prices.
In a report to the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC), the sugar miller said revenues for the
crop year that started in December 2005 rose by 237.86 percent to
P450.8 million from P133.4 million during the comparable period.
CAT said market prices of its
traditional products like alcohol and raw sugar rose 28.61 percent
and 41.71 percent, respectively.
Besides high market prices,
higher output also pushed sugar sales to grow by 266.92 percent to
251.172 million.
“The steep [rise] of the world
market prices lifted local prices as smuggling ground to a halt,”
the company said. Raw and refined sugar breached the P1,400 and
P1,700 price ceiling, respectively, during the period.
Alcohol sales expanded by 788.64
percent due to higher sales volume and higher average selling price
per liter of alcohol.
Higher carbon dioxide sales
volume, meanwhile, offset the lower average selling price of the
company’s nontraditional product. Sales volume rose to 615,700
kilos from the 39,360 kilos registered the previous year but the
average selling price dipped to P6.84 a kilo from the previous P7.73
a kilo.
The company said the increased
productivity and improved market conditions allowed it to offset the
“lingering effects” of the labor strike that occurred in late
2005.
The sugar miller, however, said
it will benefit from the newly passed Bioethanol Act. With minimal
investment, its distillery can be upgraded to produce anhydrous
alcohol that can be blended with gasoline.
--Likha C. Cuevas
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