SRA: Sugar prices to stabilize by November

With the arrival of imported sugar and the start of milling season, the retail prices of sugar are expected to stabilize in November, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said Tuesday.

At a press briefing in Makati City, SRA Acting Administrator David Alba said the retail price of refined sugar will stabilize at P70 to P80 per kilogram.

Data from the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) monitoring as of September 19 showed that the prevailing retail price of refined sugar is P95 per kilo while washed sugar and brown sugar are sold at P75 per kilo and P72.50 per kilo, respectively.

“Hopefully by November, once all imported refined [sugar] comes in, we should see stabilization on the prices,” Alba said.

The SRA, last week, issued Sugar Order No. 2, which authorizes the importation of 150,000 metric tons of refined sugar. The imported sugar will be divided equally for industrial and consumer use.

SO2 mandates that sugar traders participating in the import program shall ensure that their respective allocated volumes shall arrive in the Philippines no later than November 15, 2022.

Under the order, each participant shall be given one month from November 15 to completely distribute their allocations to respective clients for industrial use and/or direct consumption and submit to the SRA within 30 calendar days written proof of compliance to the said actual distribution.

Alba, in an earlier statement, said that the “import program is just a stop-gap measure because we expect supply from the mills to flow into the market as refineries are expected to be in full operation by next month.”

During the press briefing, the SRA chief said that “refineries will be in full operation in November.”

“So we’re hoping by November prices will stabilize,” he said.

Last month, Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian, SRA board member Atty. Roland Beltran, and Sugar Regulatory Administration Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica resigned from their posts after they signed off on Sugar Order No. 4 (SO4).

SO4 authorized the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar. The action was later deemed “illegal” as it was signed without the knowledge and approval of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who as the concurrent Secretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA), also sits as the chairman of the Sugar Board.

Marcos also rejected the proposal to import 300,000 metric tons of sugar despite the increasing prices of the basic commodity due to supply constraints.

The Department of Agriculture had said there was a shortage of about 300,000 metric tons of sugar as local production was affected by the onslaught of Typhoon Odette late last year. — DVM, GMA News