The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has issued new guidelines governing the planned export of up to 100,000 metric tons (MT) of raw sugar to the United States for crop year 2025–2026, outlining who may participate and stressing that the program can be stopped at any time if conditions change.
Under Sugar Order No. 3, signed on January 9 and released to the public on January 20, the SRA said export allocations will be computed using a specific formula that prioritizes stakeholders who joined an earlier government program aimed at managing domestic sugar supply. The agency emphasized that government retains full authority to suspend the export program should domestic supply or prices require intervention.
The export allocation will favor eligible traders who participated in Sugar Order No. 2, which allowed licensed sugar traders, millers, farmers, and manufacturers to voluntarily buy locally produced raw sugar in exchange for priority in future import allocations. That earlier order covered up to 300,000 MT of raw sugar purchases for the current crop year, mostly sourced from farmers, as part of efforts to absorb excess supply.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) said the export plan is meant to reduce oversupply in the domestic market after local raw sugar production rose by 130,000 MT. Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. noted that the measure is intended to ease falling farm-gate prices, which have continued to decline despite earlier policy actions.
The DA also pointed out that the export program comes while a moratorium on sugar imports remains in place until December, giving continued protection to local producers even as output and inventories stay high. However, retail and millsite prices have remained under pressure.
Philippine raw sugar production reached 2.09 million MT in crop year 2024–2025, up 8.8 percent from the previous year and the highest level in four years, according to SRA data. The DA said the country’s US sugar quota was originally about 143,000 MT but was reduced to 100,000 MT due to delays in confirming participation.
The agency stressed that selling sugar under the US quota is financially attractive for exporters, as US quota prices are usually higher than world market prices. SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said the growing export volumes—now at 100,000 MT—reflect rising production and are crucial to balancing supply and demand, while helping support farmer incomes.
As of January 21, retail sugar prices in Metro Manila remained at P80 per kilo for refined sugar, P75 for washed sugar, and P70 for brown sugar. Meanwhile, the average millsite price stood at P2,174.58 per 50-kilo bag as of December 21, slightly higher than the previous week.
