For 2nd straight year, Philippines exporting sugar to America

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is exporting raw sugar to the United States later this year to stabilize prices for domestic farmers ahead of the expected surge in supply during the local milling season in September.

This is the second straight year that the Philippines will ship raw sugar to the US, as regulators hope to keep the vast American market open to local producers.

The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) issued Sugar Order No. 5 governing the shipment of 66,000 metric tons (MT) of raw sugar to the US market.

READ: SRA to export 66,000 MT of raw sugar in US market in March

Based on the order, the US export allocation will come from local raw sugar bought by eligible participants under the voluntary purchase program initiated by the SRA last month.

This export round is open to entities that joined the initiative, provided that they are licensed international sugar traders in good standing and have complied with all the requirements and procedures set forth by the SRA.

Interested entities should apply on or before March 30.

All raw sugar should be shipped out of the archipelago not later than Aug. 15, according to the SRA, adding that it has not authorized any sugar importation for the current crop year.

The SRA initiated sugar exporting as some industry players had signified interest to help the government meet its sugar quota this year despite lower returns along with the “additional cost and uncertainty inherent to the exportation of sugar,” the order read.

SRA administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said last month that some players were reluctant to sell sugar to America as pricing was about P1,000 below domestic market prices.

But Azcona said the SRA had explained to industry stakeholders the rationale behind the planned export to the US market: address declining farm-gate prices and retain the country’s sugar export quota.

”What I learned when I came to the SRA was [that] in January, February, March, there is an oversupply because it’s the peak of the milling [season],” he had said.

“To create a need and a demand and to stabilize the price, we export … and then once we have a gap, we import when harvest is done to replenish the export,” he told reporters.

In previous crop years, the country opted not to export to the US market as local sugar production was insufficient to meet local demand.

However, the country resumed raw sugar exports to the US last September, when it delivered 25,300 MT of raw sugar to California.