The Sugar Regulatory Board approved the importation of 200,000 metric tons of standard and bottler’s grade sugar to cover an expected shortfall caused by Typhoon Odette.
The board said the importation would strike a balance between sugar supply and demand and ensure stable prices of the commodity.
Based on recalibrated pre-final crop estimate of raw sugar production, there was an estimated drop of 1.2 percent to 2.072 metric tons from 2.099 MT prior to the arrival of Typhoon Odette. This followed an assessment of the damage caused by the typhoon on sugarcane crops, sugar stocks at warehouses and on the facilities and equipment of sugar mills and refineries in key sugar milling districts.
Under Sugar Order No. 3 for Crop Year 2021-2022, eligible participants in the open and voluntary importation program are industrial users of refined sugar in good standing that are duly registered international traders.
An industrial user not registered with SRA as an international trader may appoint an international sugar trader in good standing to import for its account.
The Philippine Association of Sugar Refineries revised its refined sugar production forecast for crop year 2021-2022 to 16.748 million LKg (50-kilogram bag), down from the initial production estimate of 17.572 million LKg before Typhoon “Odette.”
The SRA said the estimated shortfall would result in a very tight sugar stock balance at the end of milling representing about two to three months’ worth of unserved demand for refined sugar in between the milling seasons.
Wholesale prices also reached record high for both raw and refined sugar, thereby increasing the prices of retail sugar.
The SRA said that since the opening of the economy, the demand for raw sugar and refined sugar in January also increased, compared to the same month in the previous three years.
The crop year starts Sept. 1 and ends Aug. 31 of the following year. The sugar mills and refineries generally stop operations during the milling months of May to June, while the refineries start around two weeks after the mills.
Sugar stakeholders posed no objection to the importation program.