MANILA — A ranking official of the Department of Agriculture (DA) assured the public that retail prices of sugar will finally go down after importation of an additional 150,000 metric tons, noting that the arrival of the bulk of 440,000 MT of imported sweeteners failed to temper its cost in the country.
Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban yesterday told reporters that retail prices of sugar are expected to decrease to between P80 to P90 per kilo.
Based on monitoring of the DA in Metro Manila markets, retail prices of refined sugar ranged between P86 and P110 per kilo; washed sugar, between P82 and P90 per kilo; and brown sugar, between P78 and P90 per kilo.
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Panganiban said President Marcos met with stakeholders of the sugar sector to announce his decision to approve the importation of an additional 150,000 MT of sugar.
“The President decided to meet the sugar sector for him to announce that we shall be importing 150,000 tons of sugar as our season of harvest will start Sept. 30 (2023),” he added.
He pointed out that based on the assessment of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), the country’s local production for 2022 to 2023 only reached 1.7 million metric tons, way below the target of 2.2 MMT.
“Everybody is talking about the (flooding) of sugar in the country today but that’s just artificial because there is a shortage in the country. Our production effort is only about 1.7 million metric tons compared to what we require which is 2.2 million metric tons,” he explained.
Panganiban has awarded ahead of the issuance of Sugar Order No. 6 in February 2023 the importation of 440,000 MT of sugar to All Asian Countertrade, 240,000 MT; Edison Lee Marketing, 100,000 MT; and S&D Sucden Philippines, 100,000 MT.
He defended his decision, saying he was acting “upon the instructions” of Marcos through Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin. “We imported 440,000 (MT) simply because it was quite urgent. The country is in dire need of sugar,” he said.
But the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters urged the SRA to first disclose figures on production, inventory and projected demand before issuing any sugar order for additional importation.
“What is our current production? How much is our inventory, including the 440,000 MT importation and other importations? What is our projected consumption? How much is our projected shortfall until the end of the crop year, if there is any?” asked Enrique Rojas, the group’s president.
Rojas added that “these questions have to be answered so that sugar producers can make an informed decision.”
Panganiban said during the meeting with sugar producers, millers and traders, it was announced that the bidding for the additional 150,000 MT would be opened to all qualified sugar importers and that at least 35 to 40 sugar importers can qualify to join importation.
“At least selected, although it’s an open importation. It has to be selected on the basis of their qualification based on SRA standards,” he added.
The SRA, he said, is expected to issue a sugar order before the end of the month.
“It (arrival) will be dependent on how fast the importers (could ship it)… but we need them before Sept. 30,” he added.
For his part, acting SRA Administrator Pablo Azcona said that of the 440,000 MT of imported sugar, 213,000 MT arrived in the country and that 134,000 MT were already released into the market.
On the other hand, Azcona attributed the delay in the sale of seized sugar at Kadiwa stores to the failure of the Bureau of Customs to release the smuggled sweetener to the DA.
“I was already tasked to follow it up to the Bureau of Customs,” he said.
According to Azcona, the SRA will decide if it will continue with the implementation of suggested retail price on sugar once the smuggled sugar is made available at Kadiwa outlets.
“I think once the Kadiwa sugar is out, we will decide,” Azcona said, adding that he expects a small drop in sugar production next year amid the possible impact of the El Niño phenomenon.
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