SRP of refined sugar pegged at P52/kilo
The National Price Coordinating Council chaired by the Department of Trade and Industry has decided that the suggested reference price of refined sugar will be retained at P52 per kilo.
The Sugar Regulatory Administration had earlier recommended the SRP of P56 per kilo when retailers in public markets and grocery owners complained that they could no longer sell refined sugar at the SRP level of P 52 per kilo because the wholesale price has gone up and it is no longer profitable for them to sell sugar at the current SRP level.
They also raised concerns that the Department of Agriculture and DTI will file an administrative case against them if they will sell refined sugar beyond the SRP.
SRA’s recommended SRP was based on the last bidding price of sugar in the millsite and the prevailing wholesale prices for the last three months, that is, from June to August.
The SRA admitted that the spike in the domestic price of sugar was somehow influenced by the increasing trend of sugar prices in the global market and also triggered by the lean sugar supply in the domestic market brought about by El Niño which affected the harvests of the past crop year and the delayed milling season in the current crop year.
SRA, in coordination with the National Food Authority, implemented the importation of sugar using the tax expenditure subsidy of NFA so that sugar will come in at a price lower than the duty-paid importation which will reach as high as P70 per kilo of refined sugar.
Out of the 250,000 metric tons total importation, 217,814 metric tons arrived as of September 8 which is hoped to fill-in the supply gap during the lean months.
Based on a five-year average, monthly consumption of raw sugar is 162,000 metric tons while for refined sugar, around 87,000 metric tons.
In a report to Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, SRA Administrator Ma. Regina Martin said that during the inter-agency meeting of DTI with the traders, wholesalers and retailers held before the NPCC meeting, it was agreed that retailers’ profit of P2 per kilo based on the owning cost is reasonable.
The DA and DTI enforced the SRP and issued show-cause directives to retailers selling beyond the SRP of P52.
Violators were made to explain and show proof that the sugar were bought at a higher price to justify their selling price and if there is no sufficient proof, an administrative case will be filed against them pursuant to the provisions of the Price Act.*
