Sugar reserves ordered released

MANILA, Philippines - Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap has ordered the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to release its “C” or strategic reserved sugar to the domestic market to arrest the skyrocketing prices, which have reached P44 to P45 per kilo.

In a press conference, Yap also said the SRA should carve out a portion of its stocks specifically to be sold to the marginalized sector.

However, in a separate interview, SRA head Rafael Coscolluela clarified that there is really no shortage, saying there are 460,700 tons of raw sugar and 107,000 tons of refined sugar with millers.

Coscolluela explained that the increase in local sugar prices is not due to a shortage but to the industry’s tracking of international sugar prices.

“We cannot get away from the global trend,” Coscolluela stressed.

The SRA head admitted that Yap’s order to reclassify “C” sugar to “B” or for domestic consumption would have the immediate effect of easing fears of a shortage.

But local food processors have been eyeing the “C” sugar for their own needs as importation is deemed more costly.

Yap had said that the landed cost of imported sugar would be around P1,700 per 50-kilogram bag, higher than the P1,200 per 50-kg bag being sold by local sugar farmers.