Philippines : Government aims to boost sugar prices via program
The Philippines’ Sugar Regulatory Administration will launch another voluntary purchase program, buying 200,000–250,000 tonnes of raw sugar to lift falling farmgate prices amid ample supply. Purchased sugar will be reserved for 90 days, with traders gaining future import allocations. Output has risen sharply, pressuring prices. Weather risks may cut output.
The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) will undertake another round of voluntary purchase program in its bid to prop up the farmgate prices of the sweetener, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., who chairs the SRA Board, said the regulatory agency will issue Sugar Order (SO) 2 in the current crop year involving the purchase of about 200,000 metric tons (MT) to 250,000 MT of raw sugar after farmgate prices fell.
“The farmgate price of raw sugar declined to around P2,100 because we have ample supply,” the DA chief told reporters in an interview recently. “I think everybody’s waiting for this SO, so nobody wants to move.”
Under the program, raw sugar is purchased by eligible traders at a premium and classified as “C” or reserved sugar for around 90 days to temporarily draw off stocks from the domestic market in an effort to lift farmgate prices.
Traders who purchased raw sugar higher than the prevailing market price will be prioritized in the government’s future import programs. The import allocation is set at a ratio determined by the SRA based on raw sugar purchased.
According to the DA chief, SRA will also involve traders’ export of raw sugar to reduce domestic inventory.
“There’s also a mechanism where traders can export raw sugar to reduce their local stocks and there will be an equivalent import allocation,” he said.
SO 2 for crop year 2025-2026 will serve as the third round of the SRA’s voluntary purchase program.
The agency first implemented the program in crop year 2023-2024, where it siphoned off 300,000 MT of raw sugar from market circulation for 90 days.
The second round was implemented by the SRA in the previous crop year 2024-2025, which covered 500,000 MT of the sweetener in the same period.
Data from the SRA showed that farmgate price of raw sugar fell by 7.7 percent to P2,363 per 50-kilo bag as of November 23, from P2,560 in the same period last year.
Sugar output stood at 566,701 MT in the reference period, up by over a third or 35.12 percent from 419,400 MT recorded a year ago, SRA data showed.
Figures from the SRA showed that the country’s raw sugar output settled at 2.085 million metric tons (MMT) in the previous crop year 2024-2025.
For crop year 2025-2026, the SRA said raw sugar production could fall to 1.92 MMT as torrential downpours and pest infestation battered plantations in Negros, which accounts for 65 percent of total output of the sweetener.
However, the agency noted that output in the current crop year may even be lower than the initial forecast owing to the potential impact of red-striped soft-scale insect infestation on yield.
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Source : Business Mirror
