The Philippines bioethanol reference price for October was at Peso 58.45/liter ($1.20/liter) -- the lowest level seen in 2016 -- down Peso 1.16/liter from September, according to data released by the country's Sugar Regulatory Administration Monday.
The reference price takes into account the average cost of molasses and sugar cane, two feedstocks for ethanol production in the country.
The drop was mainly caused by sharply lower sugar cane price in October, which was at a one-year low of Peso 1,607.23/Lkg.
The equivalent feedstock cost was Peso 29.73/l, the lowest level since September 2015 when it was at Peso 30.76/l.
The molasses price in Negros edged down by Peso 52.43/mt from September to Peso 9,985.07/mt in October, equating to a molasses feedstock cost of Peso 42.59/l.
In comparison, the imported Philippines ethanol price was on an uptrend in October.
The CIF Philippines fuel-grade ethanol marker jumped $33/cu m month on month to be assessed at a four-month high of $523.33/cu m on October 31, S&P Global Platts data showed.
That implies domestic ethanol price was around 230% higher than the imported fuel-grade ethanol price.
As the Philippines' local monthly allocation of domestically produced ethanol for first-quarter 2017 was announced on October 19, most oil companies in the country are expected to procure cargoes by the end of the year, sources said.
