Release of sugar imports suspended as farmgate price drops

MANILA, Philippines — The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has suspended the release of imported sugar from warehouses amid a drop in the farmgate price of local sugar.

In a resolution issued Sept. 26 but made public only yesterday, the SRA board decided to hold in abeyance all applications of conversion and maintain the classification of all imported sugar as “C” or reserved sugar.

This will allow the regulator to “maintain a reasonable volume of sugar available for domestic use, protect the interests of farmers and millers, and sustain a reasonable farmgate price of raw sugar of about P3.000 per bag,” a part of the order reads.

“When the (imported) sugar comes into the country, (these) automatically reserved for domestic (use). Owners have to apply for reclassification… We will hold reclassification until prices stabilize,” SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said in a briefing with reporters.

Azcona said the suspension order covers the 150,000 metric tons of imported refined sugar under Sugar Order 7 issued in July. He added that, of this volume, applications for reclassification would be put on hold for around 100,000 MT.

The move to stop applications, he explained, stemmed from a “speculative statement” last Aug. 24, which caused farmgate prices to drop.

Azcona noted that the farmgate price of local sugar has dropped to P60 per kilo, but admitted that retail prices remain as high as P110 due to overpricing.

He described the market situation as “abnormal,” with farmgate prices moving up or down by P100 on a weekly basis.

At least 550,000 metric tons of sugar were imported this year, including the controversial 400,000 metric tons, which were awarded to three importers, and 150,000 metric tons, now being used as buffer stocks.

Based on the Department of Agriculture monitoring in Metro Manila markets, the retail prices of refined sugar ranged between P82 and P110 per kilo; washed sugar, between P79 and P95 per kilo and brown sugar, between P75 and P95 per kilo.

Azcona said the next importation would be done in April or May 2024 after the milling season, adding that the SRA estimates the total local sugar production to reach 1.85 million metric tons for