The Sugar Regulatory Administration said Tuesday the mandated importation of sugar in 2022 was above board and the reported high price of domestic sugar was due to insufficient supply from poor production arising from climate change.
“There is no midnight deal or sweet deal, I will always do what I believe is right for the greater good. What the detractors of importation have failed to consider is the issue on food security, in particular, the availability of supply and the issue on affordability of sugar,” SRA administrator Hermenegildo Serafica said Monday.
He added SRA had always based importation from historical figures and actual data while it constantly monitor and study sugar figures.
The SRA said production of sugar was lower due to the onslaught of typhoons such as Typhoon Odette and excessive rain and reduced sunlight due to La Nina phenomenon.
Serafica noted that because of the rise in sugar prices, farmers are rushing to mill their canes while prices are up even as the sugarcanes are yet to fully mature.
This practice may lead to less tonnage and lower sugar content and ending the milling season earlier compared to previous years.
The situation has led the SRA to a calculated assesment that there won’t be enough sugar to meet domestic consumption in the coming months, particularly June to August, he explained.
However, local sugar stakeholders demanded the SRA to call off the planned importation of 200,000 MT sugar citing reports of an alleged 42 percent increase in the production of refined sugar to 353,779.10 MT, compared to the 249,515.8 MT produced in the previous year.
Meanwhile, the SRA said there are no reports of hoarding that may have triggered sugar prices to go up.
“SRA is monitoring the warehouses of registered traders and industrial users. SRA found no hoarding,” Serafica said.
For crop year 2021-2022, the estimated raw sugar output is 1.98 million metric tons (MT), lower by 5.4 percent from the actual sugar production of 2.14 million MT in crop year 2020-2021.