SRA chief says market sugar price stable

The Sugar Regulatory Administration on Sunday assured the public of a stable price of sugar in the market.

SRA Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica reacted to speculations that the retail prices of sugar went up.

“Those who are spreading rumors of sugar prices increasing are trying to manipulate the market so they can increase their profits at the expense of the consumers and producers,” he said in a statement sent to the media.

“There is no reason for sugar prices to go up since sugar stock balance is at an all-time high of over 1.1 million metric tons that is 143 percent of last year’s stock balance during the same period,” he said.

Plus mill gate prices have been holding steady between P1,450 to P1,550 for the past five months, he added.

According to Serafica, this week’s average mill gate price is at P1,454.

He said such is “already on the low side compared to sugar prices for the past five years.”

“There have been very little withdrawals in the mills such that all of their warehouses are full and most of them are already preparing additional spaces for storage. Some have rented additional warehouses while some have repurposed their other buildings, such as basketball courts, to hold sugar,” he noted.

“I have been going around inspecting sugar mills’ warehouses and traders’ warehouses and many of the imported sugar have not been used. In fact over 133,500 metric tons of imported have not been withdrawn from the warehouses,” he said.