Philippines releases Sugar Order No. 4 for 300,000 mt of imports

The Philippine's Sugar Regulatory Administration released on its website on Aug. 9 Sugar Order No. 4 for 300,000 mt of raw and refined sugar imports, as seen by S&P Global Commodity Insights Aug. 10.

This is the country's second sugar import program for crop year 2021-2022 (September-August).

The SRA has projected that by Aug. 31, the country's raw and refined sugar stocks will stand at negative 35,231 mt and negative 20.748.65 mt, respectively. Tightening supply caused wholesale sugar prices to spike, prompting the SRA to identify the need for a new sugar order.

This latest order is on top of Sugar Order No. 3 released earlier in February, which resumed in May after the clearance of temporary restraining orders issued by regional trial courts in The Philippines' province of Negros Occidental. The restraining orders blocked the SRA from implementing Sugar Order No. 3 after appeals by local farmers.

According to the Sugar Order No. 4, half of the 300,000 mt import quota will be allocated to industrial users, while the remaining half will be split between producers and traders.

Previously, qualifying industrial users would have had to complete a form in Memorandum Circular No.17 released Aug. 3 declaring their actual sugar usage between January to July 2022, along with their projected consumption for August to December 2022 and January to December 2023 by Aug. 9, 2022.

The sugar order also specified import deadlines. Raw sugar for consumption must arrive no later than Oct. 15, while those for refining were subjected to a Nov. 30 deadline. Imported refined sugar must arrive in the Philippines by Nov. 30.

A Japanese trader told S&P Global Commodity Insights on Aug. 5 that the Philippines would import Malaysian and Indonesian sugar. Trade participants were expecting the Philippines to import sugar from Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia.