BOI approves P490-M mill in Negros Oriental

BOI APPROVES P490-M MILL IN NEGROS ORIENTAL

THE Board of Investments (BOI) recently approved HDJ Bayawan Agri-venture Corp.’s (HBAC) P490-million sugar mill in Negros Oriental province after it qualified under the 2017 Investment Priorities Plan’s (PPP) manufacturing activities agro- processing category.

Found in Barangay Bugay in Negros Oriental’s Bayawan City, the mill is expected to produce 427,050 50-kilogram bags of raw sugar and 7,665 metric tons of molasses annually.

The facility started commercial operations this month.

Trade Undersecretary for Industry Development and BOI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo said the new plant would address the needs of the Department of Agrarian Reform’s beneficiaries and other small sugar cane farmers in the mill’s vicinity.

“The establishment of the new sugar mill will dramatically reduce the cost of transporting sugar cane [ from] farmers within the area by as much as P600 per ton. Farmers will now have greater flexibility on where to send their sugar canes for milling,” Rodolfo said.

Before the HBAC mill opened, the nearest mills were in Sta. Catalina town in the province’s Bais City and in Kabankalan City. Both are 50 km away and transporting sugar cane to them cost about P650 per ton.

The sugar industry has about 700,000 workers in 19 sugar-producing provinces, according to the Department of Labor and Employment.