President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s plan to keep a two-month buffer stock of sugar would require the importation of as much as 450,000 metric tons (MT) of the sweetener.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said details to comply with the President’s plans are being finalized.
“We are at the draft stage… this draft is sent to all stakeholders and the DA for comments.
The volume is swinging at 400,000 to 450,000 MT in total. This will not arrive all at the same time, we are at the peak of milling,” Pablo Azcona, SRA planters’ representative.
The Philippines stopped the practice of keeping a two-month sugar buffer stock in the last administration.
Azcona said the country usually imports refined sugar instead of raw sugar due to the lack of milling facilities that can operate during off-season.
But the SRA will also consider bringing in a small amount of raw sugar from the 450,000 MT of imports as there are refiners which want to start operating even before milling season.
Azcona said the allocation of the 450,000 MT sugar importation is under study.
The SRA added the imported supply must be lower than the current fair price of locally produced refined sugar at retail of P90 per kg. A fair price range for imported sugar is between P70 and P80 per kg.
Rex Estoperez, DA deputy spokesperson, said the seized 80,000 bags of smuggled sugar planned to be sold in Kadiwa rolling stores will undergo food safety tests and will secure clearance from the Bureau of Customs. The commodity will likely be priced at P70 per kg.
The volume is equivalent to 4,000 MT, is not significant to affect farm gate price the SRA said.
Meanwhile, three planters federations representing majority of national sugar production, formalized their coalition with the signing of a memorandum of agreement in Bacolod City on Monday.
Enrique Rojas of the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters, Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama Jr. of the Confederation of Sugar Producers’ Associations and Danilo Abelita of the Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers, established the Sugar Producers Coalition to be called as the Sugar Council.
The coalition will serve as venue where sugar producers, with the participation of other concerned stakeholders, can discuss issues and craft recommendations for submission to policy-makers and legislators that advances, promotes and secures the continued viability of the sugar industry.
