The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) ordered the suspension of the reclassification, distribution and disposal of imported sugar so as not to depress local prices during this ongoing local milling season.
Resolution No. 2023-159 issued on September 26 but made public on Wednesday, effectively prevents the release to the domestic market of imported sugar which will now form part of reserves.
In the resolution, SRA also lifted the deadline for the conversion of all imported sugar that entered the country prior to this issuance.
“… to maintain a reasonable volume of sugar available for domestic use, protect the interests of the farmers and millers and sustain a reasonable farmgate price of raw sugar of about P3,000 per bag, the Sugar Board deemed it necessary to hold in abeyance all applications of conversion and maintain the classification of all imported sugar as reserves,” the resolution said.
Pablo Azcona, SRA administrator, told reporters in a briefing in Bacolod City yesterday the agency noted “irregularities” in a string of sugar farmgate pricing.
Azcona said since milling started on September 1, sugar farm gate prices have been fluctuating to a wider band of lower or higher than P100 per week which is unusual.
SRA said the volatility in pricing was likely caused by speculations of traders of an abundance of imported sugar during the local milling season.
“We tried talking to traders and their reason is that there’s just a lot of sugar. With that in mind, we felt we had to regulate and keep some sugar as our buffer,” Azcona said.
