Sugar prices have shot up to 50 percent in the past few months—despite efforts by the Sugar Regulatory Administration to bolster domestic supply by removing allocation for the world market.
There is no sugar shortage in local markets but the unreasonable price increases are causing consumers to suspect that suppliers are squeezing supply to trigger the price hikes, Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos said in a recent interview.
“The latest macro supply and demand data show there is no shortage,” Marcos added.
The April 15 bid price for sugar—that would have to be turned up by September 2018—for the local market was at P1,685.88 per 50-kilogram bag, higher by nearly 20 percent than the bid price of P1,432.56 for the same period in the 2017 crop year.
By April 22, the bid price went up to P1,694.33, which leaves many wondering if sugar prices have no way to go but up, she said.
SRA had projected raw-sugar production at 2.38 tons for the 2017/2018 crop year.
The tonnage output is seen by the Manila-based USDA Foreign Agriculture Service to go higher due to expansion in areas planted to sugarcane.
FAS cites sugarcane areas will reach 424,000 hectares.
To the man in the street, such increased hectarage, following economies of scope/scale, translate to higher yields, or ample supply for the local market—which can only mean reasonable prices, Marcos said.
She added: “But reality tells us that sugar price is on an upward spiral that would baffle, even anger our consumers. Did sugar pricing defy the common buyer’s common sense?”
Or such price spirals have been manipulated by suppliers to rake in higher profits at the expense of Filipino buyers, she added.