Sugar Regulatory Admin halts distribution of imported sugar into the market

MANILA, Philippines — The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) issued an order on Thursday to stop the release of imported sugar into the market.

The SRA made the decision since farmgate prices of sugar have fallen from P3,000 to around P2,500 to P2,700 per bag, causing problems for farmers.

“Despite the fact that the average retail price of sugar remains the same, the average farmgate price of raw sugar which hovered between P2,500 to P2,750 per bag during the first two weeks of CY 2023-2024 continues to go down, to the detriment of the sugar farmers, allegedly by reason of oversupply,” the SRA said.

The agency referred to Sugar Order No. 7, which mandated the importation of 150,000 metric tons of sugar for the 2022-2023 crop year.

According to the latest price report by the Department of Agriculture, sugar prices vary from as low as P75 to a maximum of P110 per kilo.

Meanwhile, refined sugar is in the range of P80 to P110 per kilo, washed sugar is priced between P79 to P95 per kilo, and brown sugar falls within the P75 to P95 per kilo range.