The Philippines' Sugar Regulatory Administration set the country's local monthly allocations, or LMAs, for domestic ethanol production on Friday at 75,790 cu m for the first quarter next year, a source with a major Philippine oil company told S&P Global Platts.
This is 7,040 cu m higher than 68,750 cu m for Q4 2017 and slightly lower than 75,835 cu m for Q1 2017.
The Q1 2018 LMAs comprise 25,290 cu m for January, 24,450 cu m for February and 26,050 cu m for March.
The LMAs are determined every quarter and oil companies in the Philippines are allocated a purchase quota proportionate to their market share in the retail gasoline market.
Philippine oil companies are required to fulfill their domestic allocations before they import cheaper import fuel-grade ethanol.
Meanwhile, the Philippines' domestic bioethanol prices reference price fell to Pesos 47.52/liter (92 cents/liter) in October, down 19% year on year, according to data released by the SRA.
However, the domestic bioethanol price remained close to double the price of imported material.
With the US ethanol futures cooling down this week, buying interest for Q1 2018 delivery cargoes is expected to emerge in the Philippines in the next few weeks, said market sources.
