[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 174 (Thursday, September 10, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46559-46561]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-21761]



[[Page 46559]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Commodity Credit Corporation


Domestic Sugar Program--2008-Crop Cane Sugar and Beet Sugar 
Marketing Allotments and Company Allocations

AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is issuing this notice 
to publish the 2008-crop state sugar marketing allotments and company 
allocations to sugarcane and sugar beet processors, and changes to 
allotments that have occurred since the establishment of the fiscal 
year 2009 (FY 2009) overall allotment quantity (OAQ). This applies to 
all domestic sugar marketed for human consumption in the United States 
from October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009. Although CCC already 
has announced most of the information in this notice through United 
States Department of Agriculture (USDA) news releases, CCC is required 
to publish the determinations establishing, adjusting, or suspending 
sugar marketing allotments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barbara Fecso, Dairy and Sweeteners 
Analysis Group, Economic Policy and Analysis Staff, Farm Service 
Agency, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., STOP 0516, Washington, DC 
20250-0516; telephone (202) 720-4146; FAX (202) 690-1480; e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Initial FY 2009 State Allotments and Company Allocations

    On September 30, 2008, CCC announced the distribution of the FY 
2009 beet sugar allotment of 4,850,738 short tons, raw value (STRV) 
(54.35 percent of the OAQ) to sugar beet processors. In addition, CCC 
announced the distribution to sugarcane processors of the 4,074,262 
STRV cane sugar allotment (45.65 percent of the OAQ).
    CCC also granted Andino Energy Enterprises, L.L.C. (Andino) a FY 
2009 cane sugar allocation of 25,266 STRV. This amount represented 
Andino's expected FY 2009 sugar production based on evidence provided 
to CCC demonstrating its ability to process, produce, and market 2008-
crop raw cane sugar at its St. James Factory. CCC did not reduce 
allocations at the other Louisiana mills at that time because the FY 
2009 raw cane sugar allotment was expected to be considerably larger 
than the domestic raw cane sugar supply. Instead, CCC filled Andino's 
allocation need with surplus allotment expected from Hawaii. CCC will 
determine the permanent allocation level for Andino, and subtract 
allocation shares, on a pro rata basis, from the Louisiana mills when 
the time period opens in May for growers to request to transfer 
allocations.
    In FY 2004, CCC declared that Puerto Rican processors permanently 
terminated operations because no sugar had been processed for two 
complete years. Since Puerto Rico is entitled to an allocation by law, 
the allocation of 6,356 STRV was reassigned to the mainland sugarcane-
producing states. Hawaii was not expected to use all of its current 
cane sugar allotment. Therefore, Hawaii received none of the Puerto 
Rican reassignment and CCC reassigned 25,266 tons of Hawaiian 
allocation to Andino.
    CCC determined that proportionate shares were not necessary in 
Louisiana in FY 2009 because the cane sugar sector was not expected to 
fill its allotment.
    Additionally, based on the September 2008 World Agricultural Supply 
and Demand Estimates report (WASDE) indicating a FY 2009 ending stocks-
to-use ratio of 4.6 percent, CCC determined that there would be no 
sugar available to implement provisions of the Feedstock Flexibility 
Program (FFP) in FY 2009. At this level, the prospect for sugar 
forfeitures in FY 2009, which triggers FFP, was determined to be very 
small.

First FY 2009 Reassignment of State Allotments and Company Allocations

    In mid-year, CCC reviewed current inventories, estimated 
production, expected marketings, and other factors affecting a sugar 
beet or sugarcane processor's ability to market its full allocation. In 
a May 19, 2009, news release, CCC announced the reassignment of 
projected surplus beet sugar and cane sugar marketing allotments and 
allocations under the FY 2009 Sugar Marketing Allotment program. The 
reassignment, which transferred allocations from processors with 
inadequate supply to fulfill their allocations to processors with 
production in excess of their allocations, was expected to 
substantially increase the available supplies of domestically produced 
refined beet sugar.
    CCC also announced the redistribution of a portion of the American 
Crystal Sugar Company's allocation to the other sugar beet processors 
in response to legal proceedings contesting the transfer of sugar 
marketing allocation from the Pacific Northwest Sugar Company to the 
American Crystal Sugar Company. The redistribution is considered a 
``permanent'' allotment transfer for future years. The legal 
proceedings resulted in an 82,425 ton net decrease in American Crystal 
Sugar's allocation, and a corresponding increase, on a pro-rata basis, 
to the other sugar beet processors.
    As part of the domestic sugar program, CCC is required to reassign 
allocation to raw cane sugar imports if it is determined that 
processors will be unable to market their allocations and there is no 
CCC inventory. Data supplied by the processors in May 2009 indicated 
that the beet sugar sector would be unable to market 198,073 tons of 
its current sugar marketing allotment, while the raw cane sugar sector 
would be unable to market 561,510 tons of its sugar marketing 
allotment. Hence, the allotments were reduced to 4,652,664 tons for 
beet sugar and 3,512,752 tons for cane sugar, while 759,583 tons were 
reassigned to raw cane sugar imports already displayed in the WASDE 
report. It was expected at that time that further reassignments would 
be likely.

FY 2009 OAQ Increase

    This notice also announces an increase in the FY 2009 OAQ to 
9,235,250 million tons, which is 85 percent of the demand estimate 
published in the August 2009 WASDE report. The latest production 
forecasts indicate that the beet sugar sector is unable to fill 77,621 
tons of its sugar marketing allotment, while the cane sugar sector is 
171,417 tons short of filling its sugar marketing allotment. The total 
surplus allotment of 249,039 tons is reassigned to raw cane sugar 
imports already included in the WASDE report. CCC is reassigning the 
surplus allotment to raw sugar imports already expected because no 
additional raw sugar imports beyond the level already expected are 
needed at this time.
    The current 2008-crop beet sugar and cane sugar marketing 
allotments to date are listed in the following table:

[[Page 46560]]



                                          FY 2009 Overall Beet Sugar and Cane Sugar Allotments and Allocations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             9/30/2008                5/19/2009 Announcement                           9/8/2009 Announcement
                                           Announcement  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Distribution               ----------------                                     FY 2009      Adjusted OAQ                       FY 2009
                                              Initial     Redistribution   Reassignments   adjustment 5/   due to change   Reassignments  adjustment 9/8/
                                            allocation        of PNW                          19/2009       in food use                        2009
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                       short tons, raw value
                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beet Sugar..............................       4,850,738               0        -198,073       4,652,664         168,621         -77,621       4,743,664
Cane Sugar..............................       4,074,262               0        -561,510       3,512,752         141,629        -171,417       3,482,964
Reassignment to Imports.................               0               0         759,583         759,583               0         249,039       1,008,622
                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total OAQ...........................       8,925,000               0               0       8,925,000         310,250               0       9,235,250
========================================================================================================================================================
Sugar Beet Processors' Allocations:
    Amalgamated Sugar Co................       1,010,626          27,954        -241,742         796,838          36,103          14,722         847,663
    American Crystal Sugar Co...........       1,865,642         -82,425         104,646       1,887,863          62,167         -62,278       1,887,751
    Michigan Sugar Co...................         487,479          13,484         127,681         628,643          17,414           9,389         655,446
    Minn-Dak Farmers Co-op..............         302,624           8,371         -69,068         241,927          10,811         -15,512         237,226
    So. Minn Beet Sugar Co-op...........         637,074          17,621         -99,306         555,389          22,758         -21,550         556,597
    Western Sugar Co....................         482,583          13,206         -18,494         477,295          17,056             112         494,462
    Wyoming Sugar Co....................          64,710           1,790          -1,790          64,711           2,312          -2,504          64,518
                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Total Beet Sugar................       4,850,738               0        -198,073       4,652,664         168,621         -77,621       4,743,664
========================================================================================================================================================
State Cane Sugar Allotments:
    Florida.............................       2,018,559  ..............        -427,364       1,591,196          70,369         -70,369       1,591,196
    Louisiana...........................       1,586,848  ..............         -50,236       1,536,612          54,438         -54,438       1,536,612
    Texas...............................         175,477  ..............         -21,284         154,193           6,117          -6,117         154,193
    Hawaii..............................         293,378  ..............         -62,626         230,752          10,705         -40,493         200,964
                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Total Cane Sugar................       4,074,262  ..............        -561,510       3,512,752         141,629        -171,417       3,482,964
========================================================================================================================================================
Sugarcane Processors' Allocations:
Florida:
    Florida Crystals....................         831,094  ..............        -195,131         635,963          28,973         -28,973         635,963
    Growers Co-op. of FL................         363,109  ..............         -61,292         301,817          12,658         -12,658         301,817
    U.S. Sugar Corp.....................         824,356  ..............        -170,941         653,416          28,738         -28,738         653,416
                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Total...........................       2,018,559  ..............        -427,364       1,591,196          70,369         -70,369       1,591,196
========================================================================================================================================================
Louisiana:
    Alma Plantation.....................         130,959  ..............          39,847         170,806           4,565          -4,565         170,806
    Cajun Sugar Co-op...................         157,902  ..............         -37,601         120,301           5,505          -5,505         120,301
    Cora-Texas Mfg. Co..................         171,921  ..............          19,644         191,565           5,993          -5,993         191,565
    Lafourche Sugars Corp...............         108,896  ..............         -12,060          96,837           3,796          -3,796          96,837
    Louisiana Sugarcane Co-op...........         120,075  ..............             599         120,674           4,186          -4,186         120,674
    Lula Westfield, LLC.................         234,165  ..............          -8,554         225,611           8,163          -8,163         225,611
    M.A. Patout & Sons..................         478,609  ..............         -21,951         456,658          16,685         -16,685         456,658
    St. Mary Sugar Co-op................         159,055  ..............         -21,895         137,160           5,545          -5,545         137,160
    Andino Energy.......................          25,266  ..............          -8,266          17,000               0               0          17,000
                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Total...........................       1,586,848  ..............         -50,236       1,536,612          54,438         -54,438       1,536,612
========================================================================================================================================================
Texas:
    Rio Grande Valley...................         175,477  ..............         -21,284         154,193           6,117          -6,117         154,193
Hawaii:
    Gay & Robinson, Inc.................          67,345  ..............          -5,594          61,751           2,457          -8,196          56,013

[[Page 46561]]

 
    Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company.         226,033  ..............         -57,033         169,000           8,247         -32,296         144,951
                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Total...........................         293,378  ..............         -62,626         230,752          10,705         -40,493         200,964
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Signed in Washington, DC on September 2, 2009.
Jonathan W. Coppess,
Executive Vice President, Commodity Credit Corporation.
[FR Doc. E9-21761 Filed 9-9-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-05-P