Sugar output rises 0.23% in late June

July 15, 2019
Vincent Mariel P. Galang (Business World) | https://bit.ly/2Z8aReE

SUGAR production as of the third week of June rose 0.23% year-on-year, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said.

By the third week, the agency reported that sugar production was 2.069 million metric tons (MMT), up from 2.064 MMT a year earlier. This is equivalent to 41.39 million 50-kilo bags, compared with 41.29 million a year earlier.

The crop year for sugar starts every September and ends in August.

Demand for raw sugar declined 17.63% to 1.68 MMT.

Total sugarcane milled decreased 8.01% year-on-year to 21.72 MMT.

Refined sugar output fell 8.39% year-on-year to 788,671.75 MT.

The millgate price fell 23.25% to P1,513 per 50-kilo bag. The retail price was stable at P45 to P50 per kilo, but was lower from P46 to P64 year on year.

Government economic managers are looking at liberalizing sugar imports to help lower high domestic prices and improve the competitiveness of the food industry. Finance Secretary Carlo G. Dominguez III has estimated that sugar costs are about double the world market price.

The sugar industry has countered that liberalizing imports along the lines of the Rice Tariffication Law puts at risk about 5 million jobs.