No need to import sugar until next August as supply is ample

Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said that there's no need to import sugar until August next year as there would be enough supply for the entire crop year.

This, while the agency expects millsite prices to improve moving forward on the back of higher demand for local sugar.

As of November 19, the millsite price of domestic sugar is at R1,194.14 per 50-kilogram bag, while a week after that, or on November 26, it went up to around R1,246.78.

The improvement in prices, SRA Planning & Policy Department Manager Rosemarie Gumera said, will be backed by the "increasing demand on sugar."

But she also noted the volatility of the price trend.

"Domestic millsite price is improving but still we are cautious since the November 26 price is just almost the same as the November price of 1,246, then on November 12, it’s down to 1,212.79, then on November 19, it was 1,194.14. There was suddenly declining trend until it increased to R1,246.78. I hope that the increasing trend of sugar millsite prices will continue," Gumera said in a text message.

To support the improving prices, Gumera said the country won't import for the entire crop year.

"SRA does not allow sugar importation this crop year because we have the needed supply," the official said.

"Sugar production is still running. Mindanao and Luzon mills have just started. Negros, Panay, Ormoc and Cebu are still grinding. In the past two crop years, we had a supply build up at the end of the crop year which is good for about 5 months. We have enough sugar until the end of the crop year," she added.

Crop year for sugar production usually starts in September and ends in August.

SRA Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica already told Business Bulletin this week that the agency already observed an improvement in sugar prices.

According to him, "prices started to go up last week", with the domestic sugar price increasing by 80 to 93 pesos per 50-kg bag.

In a memorandum order issued last week, SRA told importers to seek approval for their high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) allocation prior importation in view of the current sugar situation of the country that has affected millgate prices of sugar.

They are likewise ordered to purchase 40 percent of local sugar equivalent to the approved volume of HFCS they imported or about to import.

"Please submit to the Regulation Department copies of delivery receipt, sugar release order (SRO) and other pertinent documents as proofs of purchase of local sugar from sugar traders," Serafica further said in the latest memo.

It was also last week when SRA temporarily stopped the importation of sugar into the country while it investigates the continuously declining sugar prices.