Sugar situation triggers import program – SRA

SUGAR Order No. 3 for Crop Year 2021-2022 allowing the importation of 200,000 metric tons ( MT) of standard and bottler’s grade refined sugar was issued after considering the shortfall on the ending balance of refined sugar, according to the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA).

This is pursuant to SRA’s mandate to establish and m a i n t a i n s u c h b a l a n c e d relation between production and requirement of sugar a n d s u c h m a r k e t i n g conditions as will ensure stabilized prices, it stressed. After assessing the damage caused by December 2021’ s Typhoon “Odette” to sugarcane c r o p s , s u g a r s t o c k s a t warehouses, as well as facilities and equipment of sugar mills and refineries in key sugar milling districts, the SRA recalibrated its pre- final crop estimate of raw sugar production to 2.072

MT down from the 2.099 MT pre-final crop estimate prior to “Odette”.

In addition, the Philippine Association of Sugar Refineries also revised its refined sugar production forecast for crop year 2021-2022 to 16.748 million LKg, down from the initial production estimate of 17.572 million LKg before “Odette.” According to SRA’s projections on sugar supply and demand, this will give the country a very tight sugar stock balance at the end of milling which will not be enough to cover the two to three months demand for refined sugar in between the milling seasons. Recently, SRA monitoring of sugar prices also recorded wholesale prices for both raw and refined sugar have increased to record highs. Likewise, retail sugar prices were also up. As the economy is once again starting to open up, the demand for raw sugar and refined sugar for January this year have also increased when compared to the same month in the three previous years, according to SRA. Hence the need to augment sugar stocks to ensure food security and availability of sugar to cover sugar demand until the next crop year or milling season begins again, it stressed. A crop year starts Sept . 1 and ends Aug. 31 of the following year, however the sugar mills and refineries generally stop operations around May to June and the mills start operations for the next season around September to October while the refineries s t a r t a ro u n d t wo we e ks after the mills, it explained. The 200,00 MT of refined sugar will cover the shortfall on the supply and will leave the country with enough buffer stock to tide over until the start of the next milling season, according to SRA./