SRA proposal to buy 300k MT abroad intended to boost tight supply
Despite tight supply, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday rejected a proposal of the Sugar Regulatory Administration to import 300,000 metric tons (MT) of raw and refined sugar.
“The President rejected the proposal to import an additional 300,000 MT of sugar,” Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said in a press statement.
Marcos, concurrent Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, is also the chairperson of the Sugar Regulatory Board.
Cruz-Angeles issued the statement following online reports that Marcos supposedly approved the importation plan.
“(Marcos) is the chairman of the Sugar Regulatory Board and has denied this in no uncertain terms,” she added.
After the sector missed production targets due to high input costs and typhoons, retail prices of sugar have already breached the P100 per kilogram level in wet markets and grocery stores.
Traditionally, the retail price of sugar is only P50 per kilo.
SRA data in July showed sugar production at 1.792 million MT – 16.18 percent lower than the 2.139 million MT produced in the previous crop year.
The agency forecasts the current crop year to drop further to 1.982 million MT – from an earlier estimate of 2.072 million MT – due to typhoons.
Aside from importation, another measure being considered by the SRA is the setting of a suggested retail price for sugar.
For his part, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry president George Barcelon said the importation of 300,000 MT would have given food processors “a breather.”
“There is currently a sugar shortage. Lower than expected harvest, sometimes due to calamities, causing high prices is a recurring issue over the years, similar to rice. The Department of Trade and Industry jointly with the Department of Agriculture should institute a monitoring system to avoid inflationary impact,” Barcelon said.
“A system of balancing supply versus price so the local sugar farmers and mills would not be unduly impacted, and the consumers of processed food and beverage products (would) not be burdened,” he added.
