BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
After issuing orders that all locally produced sugar will be earmarked for domestic consumptions amid the lack of supply in the local market, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. yesterday gave the go signal for the importation of 150,000 metric tons of refined sugar.
This was after the Sugar Regulatory Administration board, chaired by Marcos Jr., also the Agriculture secretary, issued Sugar Order Number 2, dated September 1, that allows Sugar Import Program for Crop Year 2022 2023, with the intention that imported sugar shall be open and available for consumption by all industrial users and consumers.
The SO 2 was also signed by other members of the board, including SRA acting administrator David John Thaddeus Alba, Ma. Mitzi Mangwag (sugar millers’ representative) and Pablo Luis Azcona (sugar planters’ representative), as well as by Senior Agriculture Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban.
Of the refined sugar to be imported, the SRA order states that 75,000 MT will be allocated to industrial users and 75,000 MT to the consumers.
“After due consultation, the Stakeholders of the Sugar Industry have submitted their respective positions and letters of endorsement recognizing the need for an importation program for the crop year 2022 to 2023,” the order said.
“After taking into consideration all comments, inputs, and information, the SRA deems it necessary to adopt additional, responsive, and pre-emptive measures to ensure domestic supply and manage sugar prices in order to achieve the foregoing policy declarations through timely government intervention by way of importation in order to maintain a balanced supply and demand of sugar for domestic consumption,” it added.
In a statement, Alba said that the importation of 150,000 metric tons of sugar is a “stop gap measure, because we expect supply from the mills to flow into the market as refineries are expected to be in full operation by next month.”
In fact, he added, that some sugar mills have already started milling, and “we will soon see a steady supply of sugar.” Nevertheless, the SRA is regularly monitoring the supply and demand situation so we can act accordingly, Alba further said.
As stipulated in Sugar Order Number 1, released earlier by SRA, the total raw sugar production for crop year 2022-2023, estimated at 1,876,135.36 metric tons, will be made available to the local market.
While the total raw sugar production for crop year 2022-2023 is expected at 1,876,135.36 MT, the total domestic raw sugar withdrawal for that year is also estimated at 2,030,750 MT, SRA added.
Alba said SRA allocated an all B sugar or 100 percent for domestic sugar, based on the projected production, which will be lower than the current demand.
The SRA order further said that it would start accepting applications for the importation of sugar three days after the effectiveness of the order.*
