ANN/PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER – The Philippine Sugar Millers Association (PSMA) expects a reduction in retail sugar prices due to declining prices received by producers at the mill gate.
PSMA Executive Director Jesus Barrera said the lower mill gate prices at the beginning of the current crop year 2023-2024, which commenced on September 1, should lead to downward adjustments in retail sugar prices.
Barrera said in the first six weeks of the new season, mill-gate prices of sugar were “way below” than in the previous season.
“There is a lag time for the retail market to mirror lower mill gate prices as the sugar moves through the supply pipeline; but nevertheless, there should be market adjustments in the retail prices,” he added.
Data from the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) showed that the sugar mill gate price averaged PHP2,825.35 per 50-kilogramme (kg) bag. It has decreased by 2.8 per cent from PHP2,745.06 per kg as of September 24.
In the past crop year, mill-site prices settled at the PHP3,000 per kg level. The average mill-gate price reached PHP3,021.04 per kg on September 4, 2022 and subsequently climbed by 25.7 per cent to PHP3,798.24 per kg.
The declining mill gate prices at the expense of local producers alarmed the SRA and forced it to hold the release of 150,000 metric tonnes of imported refined sugar indefinitely. It was meant to safeguard the interests of farmers and millers while maintaining a reasonable volume of sugar for domestic use.
The SRA said the average price of raw sugar was on the downtrend in the first two weeks of crop year 2023-2024, citing oversupply.
SRA administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said last week this had been triggered by the speculation that reserved sugars would be released.
“We have to ensure local supply and we have seen in the past seven months (that) farm-gate prices are going down and retail prices are maintained. So someone is profiteering somewhere,” Azcona said in a briefing in Bacolod City.
“We have not found any discrepancy so far. We might think of inspecting the balances on the other warehouses holding on to domestic sugar so we can see if the numbers are actually accurate,” he told reporters.
