Gov’t says needs to import 100,000T more sugar
The country needs to import an additional 100,000 tons of sugar to plug a shortfall in production resulting from a drought and meet rising demand, the government said on Thursday.
The volume will be on top of the 150,000 tons that the country has ordered so far. The Philippines returned this year to the global market for the first time since 2006 to buy the sweetener.
The state’s Sugar Regulatory Administration said raw sugar production for the current crop year to August may be at around 1.97 million tons, below the initial estimate of 2.18 million tons, due to the drier than usual weather.
“Because of El Niño, canes are weak and low in sucrose, which discourages early milling. There is therefore a need to augment the buffer supply during (the) lean, off-milling months,” the agency said in a statement .
“Compounding the situation is the increase in consumption by around 23% than the previous crop year which adds pressure to sugar stocks,” it added.
Import guidelines, possibly including the delivery schedules, were still under study and would be released soon, the agency said.
Traders said on Wednesday Manila was buying Thai white sugar at record premiums of $120 a tonne over the London market for nearby shipment, showing domestic stocks may not be enough to fill demand. ICE raw sugar futures rallied above 15 cents a lb to close at a two-week high on Wednesday, supported by a weak dollar and positive economic sentiment.
The Philippines consumes around 2 million tons of sugar annually and usually builds a buffer stock of between 300,000 and 360,000 tons of the sweetener by the end of each crop year.
The Southeast Asian country also exports between 136,000 and 137,000 tons of sugar to the United States under an annual quota which was increased this year after other countries failed to fill their quota volume. ABS-CBN News
