Imports, start of milling season to stabilize sugar prices

The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) expressed confidence on Tuesday that the projected influx of sugar imports and the beginning of the milling season will stabilize the prices of the sweetener in retail markets.

With the supply situation expected to normalize, the SRA’s top official said they might not resort to staging a new round of importations until at least the early part of 2023.

Acting SRA administrator David John Thaddeus Alba said selling prices of refined sugar are seen to decline to P70 to P80 per kilogram in less than two months.

“It will stabilize and will go a little lower when all the mills and refineries are in full operation,” Alba told reporters during a press briefing.

The majority of big mills in Negros Occidental, the sugar capital of the Philippines, are operating full swing, he added.

In Metro Manila, refined sugar as of Sept. 20 is being sold for P95 per kg and brown sugar for P70 per kg, from P50 per kg and P44 per kg a year ago, based on the Department of Agriculture’s price monitoring.

Before the SRA announced its import program last week, retail sugar prices skyrocketed to as high as P100 per kg.

Alba earlier said bringing in sugar from abroad was a “stopgap measure” as they expected supply from the mills to flow into the market with refineries projected to be in full operation by next month. INQ

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