No reason for sugar prices to go up — SRA

MANILA, Philippines — The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) maintained there is no reason for prices of the commodity to shoot up as current stock balance is at an all-time high.

SRA administrator Hermenegildo Serafica said sugar stock balance is at an all-time high of over 1.1 million metric tons, 44 percent higher than last year’s level.

“Those who are spreading rumors of sugar prices increasing are trying to manipulate the market so they can increase their profits at the expense of the consumers and producers,” Serafica said.

Mill gate prices have also been holding steady between P1450 to P1550 per 50-kilogram bag for the past five months.

“In fact, this week’s average mill gate price is at P1454. This is already on the low side compared to sugar prices for the past five years,” he added.

The SRA further emphasized there have been little withdrawals in the mills while all of the warehouses are full and most of them are already preparing additional spaces for storage.

Some even have rented additional warehouses while some have repurposed their other buildings such as basketball courts to hold sugar.

Serafica said constant inspection of sugar mills and traders’ warehouses showed many of the imported sugar have not been used.

Over 133,500 MT of imported sugar have not been withdrawn from the warehouses.

The SRA has already revised its projection for the year to 2.079 million metric tons from 2.225 million MT.

The Philippines has allocated bulk of its target production for the crop year to the domestic market with expected improvements in total output.

Ninety-five percent of the sugar production will be for the domestic market while the remaining five percent will be for the US market.