SRA to address rising cost of sugar next week
Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) is set to address next week the rising cost of sugar in the country. Until then, the uncertainty on whether or not the agency will allow the importation of sugar to stabilize the price remains.
SRA Board Member Roland Beltran said the agency, tasked to monitor the sugar industry, will hold its regular board meeting on Monday.
"SRA Board will meet and address the issue on high prices of sugar," he said in a text message.
When asked about importation, Beltran only said "let us announce as it happens."
"The Sugar Board will decide one way or another to address the unreasonable high prices of sugar," he further said.
If SRA would ever allow it, it will be the first sugar importation to happen in almost three years.
It was in 2015 when SRA, under former SRA Administrator Ma. Regina Bautista-Martin, allowed traders and millers to import 170,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar to stabilize the prices amid fears that El Niño could significantly cut the sugarcane output in the following crop year.
Beltran explained that importation does not necessarily mean the lack of supply.
"It is also used as a tool to address high prices of sugar by making sure that the sugar supply is abundant more than enough to discourage unreasonable speculations," Beltran said.
As of last week, the price of of raw sugar per 50-kilo bag already went up to as high as R2,200, compared to its September price — or just when the current crop year was about to start — which only averaged at R1,564.64.
The price for refined sugar, on the other hand, surged to R2,900 per 50-kilo bag, while it averaged around R2,750. This was also higher than the September prices, which only stood at R2,016.67 to R2,040.
These are all way higher than the landed price of imported sugar at $400 or about P1,300 per 50-kilogram bag.
On Monday, the Philippine Confectionery Biscuits & Snack Association (PCBSA), which is comprised of 18 confectionery products producers, asked the government if they could be allowed to buy cheaper imported sugar.
This, as the domestic sugar now costs 200 percent more than the sugar produced outside the Philippines, according to them.
“Price distortion is very significant to PCBSA members as sugar is the main ingredient of a confectionery item. At the average, sugar constitutes about 60 percent of each confectionery item,” PCBSA President Kissinger Sy said.
As the escalating sugar prices started to cause alarm among local producers and millers, the country also decided that it will no longer ship even a single ton to other markets, except the United States, for this crop year.
"We are already alarmed by the way 'B' or Domestic sugar prices have escalated. As of this week, prices are averaging R1,750.00 per bag, with no signs of abating. Almost all sugar producers will agree that this price level is no longer conducive or sustainable for the industry," a group of sugar producers and millers said.
'B' sugar is the portion of the local sugar production solely for domestic use.
The letter was sent to SRA by Jose Mari L. Chan, president of BinalbaganIsabela Sugar Company, Inc.; Manuel A. Lamata, president of United Sugar Producers’ Federation of the Philippines, Inc.; Renato P. Cabati, president of Philippine Association of Sugar Refineries, Inc.; Enrique D. Rojas, president of National Federation of Sugarcane Planters, Inc.; and Danilo Abelita president of Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers, Inc.
Based on the Visayas Average Bid Prices for the production week-ending May 13, the price of B sugar jumped by 26.10 percent to R1,765 per 50-kilo bag from R1,400.47 in the last crop year. This is also higher by 2.39 percent from the previous week's price of R1724.69.