Philippines gets 25,000 MT US sugar allocation

MANILA, Philippines — Washington has given Manila the green light to export 25,300 metric tons raw value (MTRV) of raw sugar to the US at lower tariff rates, the US Trade Representative announced recently.

The USTR announced the allocation of additional 125,000 MTRV of raw cane sugar under the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) system for its fiscal year 2024 that it set to end on Sept. 30.

The additional volume was among 20 eligible countries, including the Philippines, according to the USTR.

Under the TRQ, countries can export specified quantities of a product to the US at a “relatively” low tariff rate.

Brazil got the highest allocation at 27,174 MTRV, followed by the Philippines.

Last year, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) disclosed that it sought a sugar quota from the US to boost farm-gate prices of raw sugar by exporting some of the country’s sugar supply amid a drop in domestic demand.

SRA administrator and CEO Pablo Luis Azcona earlier explained that some industry stakeholders are willing to export raw sugar to the US.

Azcona noted that the volume being volunteered by traders and millers to export to the US is between 30,000 metric tons and 60,000 MT.

The Philippines was earlier given by the US a sugar quota of about 145,235 MTRV for fiscal year 2024, which started on Oct. 1, 2023.

However, the Philippines did not allocate a single volume of raw sugar for US exports when it started its crop year 2023-2024 on Sept. 1, 2023.

The country has voluntarily stopped exporting raw sugar to the US in the past two fiscal years due to domestic supply problems.