The first of three shipments totaling 440,000 metric tons of sugar has arrived and expected to cut the price of the commodity significantly over the next two weeks.
This was learned from Department of Agriculture senior undersecretary Domingo Panganiban who said refined sugar prices should fall to P80 to P84 a kilo from prevailing prices as the imports find their way to the various retail outlets nationwide.
Sugar Order 6 series 2022-2023 issued by the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) allows the importation of 440,000 metric tons (MT) of refined sugar in three tranches starting with an initial 100,000 MT followed by another 100,000 MT before April this year and the balance of 240,000 soon after.
“This is the sugar that will lower the price of commercial sugar in the Philippines,” Panganiban said.
Early this week, planter federations urged the SRA to initiate seizure proceedings on the 260 20-footer containers vans with approximately 5,000 MT of refined sugar at the Batangas Port prior to the issuance of the order allowing sugar imports.
The Confederation of Sugar Producer Associations, the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters and the Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers urged the SRA for quick action against an importation of sugar not covered by any sugar order.
“This case of smuggled sugar represents a clear threat to the Philippine sugar industry because it opens the door for sugar imports in violation of established procedures and guidelines under existing laws, rules, regulations and regulatory issuances,” the groups said in a statement.
“If left uncorrected, it will encourage further abuse of discretion and the granting of undue advantage to favored individuals or businesses and it will render as inutile the SRA, the very agency tasked with regulating the movement of sugar within the country as mandated by law,” the planters groups further said.
In the National Capital Region, the retail price of sugar as of Wednesday ranged from P87 to P110 per kilo of refined sugar, P83 to P95 for washed sugar and P80 to P95 for brown sugar.
SRA mill site monitoring show the composite price of raw sugar as of February 12 at P2,933.03 per 50-kilo bag.
