The Sugar Regulatory Administration said importation of nearly half a million metric tons of refined sugar will not affect the prices of sugar in the country.

SRA administrator Pablo Azcona said the 424,000 MT tons, which will arrive starting July 15, will also not affect farmers.

Our pricing has been stable on the retail market. The price of refined sugar has stayed at P85 for the last three years already…And we are actually seeking to keep it there, just keep it stable, Azcona said.

“In the last year, bumaba din ‘yung price ng brown sugar at washed sugar sa retail…So parang ‘yung situation sa ngayon, very good for the farmer, tumaas ‘yung farmgate at millgate price niya. Very good din for the consumer, bumaba ‘yung retail price ng brown at ng washed, at stable si refined,” Azcona added.

Earlier, SRA allowed the importation  “to ensure that the country [would] continue to have sufficient actual supply of sugar for domestic consumption and buffer stock.”

The sugar regulatory agency added that the country currently has a stock of 310,000 MT of refined sugar which could last until October. Hence, the entry of the 424,000 MT of refined sugar should be by November 30.

Our current stock of refined sugar is at 310,000 metric tons and we are currently off milling. So the 310,000 metric tons we have now is good for about four months, which could last until around October. But we still had no local refining by that time. So with the importation, half of it will be used for our own and the other 170,000 will be allocated for the two-month buffer, He added.

The importers who will be allowed to bring in the required refined sugar volume are licensed international sugar traders in “good standing,” those who have joined the government’s past sugar importation calls, and those who participated in the export of raw sugar to the US to fulfill the Philippines’ tariff rate quota, according to SRA.