SUGAR miller Roxas Holdings Inc. on Wednesday said it signed an agreement with De La Salle University-Manila for a research and development project on sugar and its by-products, mainly at boosting its production.
The company’s president and CEO Hubert Tubio said the agreement is the third it signed with an educational institution since 2014. The first two were with the University of the Philippines in Los Baños and the University of Saint La Salle in Bacolod City.
“We are optimistic that this partnership will change the landscape of the sugar industry in the Philippines as Roxas Holdings and DLSU collaborate on research initiatives that would enhance the production and processing of sugarcane into sugar and other by-products,” Tubio said in a statement.
The company will provide a fund for DLSU to go into research that will enhance the benefits from sugar and related products, which, in turn, hopes to support other local sugar stakeholders, especially in the face of mounting challenges that the global sugar industry faces, he said.
DLSU President Raymundo Suplido said he is confident that the collaboration will spur the development of the sugar industry.
“We are glad with this partnership and are excited to collaborate more closely with Roxas Holdings in coming up with researches in connection with the sugar industry,” he said.
He said DLSU, like its sister school in Bacolod, would drive initiatives to widen the scope of sugar through collaborative researches.
Roxas Holdings is transforming itself into a sugar and power company.
It manages Central Azucarera Don Pedro Inc. in Nasugbu, Batangas, and Central Azucarera de la Carlota Inc. and Roxol Bioenergy Corp. in La Carlota, Negros Occidental, and the majority of San Carlos Bioenergy Inc.
It also holds a 45-percent stake in affiliate Hawaiian-Philippine Co.
The company said it only had a profit of P18.55 million for its fiscal year in 2015 ended in December, down sharply from P611.93 million for the same period last year as it repaired its plants that prompted its own sugarcane planters to go to other mills.
Core income of one of the country’s top sugar producers was also down to P169 million, from P645 million the previous year.
“We also had to spend roughly P700 million for new equipment and repairs to address the problems at the plant,” the company said
Roxas noted that the company experienced “double whammy” as when it tried to plug the concerns in its plants, while trying to combat the combined impact of declining sugar prices and escalating production costs in the global sugar market.
The Philippines recorded a 5-percent drop in overall cane supply in the past year.
Batangas production fell by 10 percent and Negros Occidental by 5 percent, Roxas Holdings said without citing any figures.