Importers get more time to bring in sugar

Importers have been given until the end of the month to bring in more sugar from overseas—a move seen to lower the sweetener’s selling price in the markets—as they continue to grapple with global shipment problems.

The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said it moved the deadline for the arrival of the sugar imports following various requests for more time to apply for an import clearance.

Importers cited vessel delays and lack of containers, which are among the supply chain problems that have been hounding global trade following the resumption of economic activity as the COVID-19 pandemic waned.

A number of local industrial users and international sugar traders who already have ample supply, for their part, have asked the agency to allow them to transfer their allocation to other users who have a more urgent need to augment their sugar inventory. Scheduled to arrive by the end of this month are 9,194.10 metric tons of sugar, representing the balance of the 200,000 MT that the government authorized to be brought in this year.

Manuel Lamata, president of the United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines, hailed the SRA’s decision to extend the deadline to bring in the sugar as this would help stabilize retail prices of the widely used commodity. “That is a good move. The industrials have also agreed to this scheme to help the government and consumers avail [themselves of] cheaper sugar,” said Lamata in a message.

To date, refined sugar in supermarkets are selling at between P70 to P134 a kilogram while in public wet markets, prices range from P98 to P110 per kg, according to the SRA’s Oct. 7 price monitoring.

The new directive amended Sugar Order No. 3 promulgated by the previous SRA management in February this year, authorizing the importation of 200,000 metric tons of refined sugar for crop year 2021-2022.