URC unit expands sugar milling operations in Negros Occidental

BW FILE PHOTO

A UNIT of Universal Robina Corp. (URC) has inaugurated a new sugar mill in Negros Occidental that will increase the mother company’s capacity to 40,000 tons of canes per day. URC said in a statement Tuesday that its sugar and renewables subsidiary Southern Negros Development Corp. (SONEDCO) has started operations of the new sugar mill in Kabankalan City. The facility can crush up to 6,000 metric tons of canes per day, hiking the SONEDCO’s total million capacity to 14,000 tons of canes per day. Listed firm URC cited the growing volume of sugar canes that needed to be milled in Kabankalan and other areas in Negros Occidental for putting up the project. It will start full commercial operations during the 2019-2020 crop year. The refined sugar produced by SONEDCO is used for URC’s branded consumer food products such as Great Taste Coffee, C2, biscuits, candies, and other sweetened products. — Arra B. Francia