Members of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) board lambasted wholesalers and retailers for purportedly manipulating the price of sugar despite the increase in local output and the boost in stocks from the remaining volume of imports.
In a joint statement on Sunday, SRA board member Roland Beltran, who represents the millers, and Emilio Yulo, representing the sugar planters, said they received reports from their constituents that the retail price of sugar has breached the P60-per-kilogram (kg) level.
The reports received by the SRA board members pertain to prices in Metro Manila markets, which have remained above P60 per kg since the first week of April, SRA data showed.
The SRA board members said the prevailing high prices in Metro Manila market is “artificial,” indicating that some sectors are earning large profits “at the expense of the sugar industry.”
“We have been directing our eyes on the traders but I think we should now set our eyes on the wholesalers and the retailers because if indeed there is a problem in the supply chain, it is definitely not coming from the producers and the millers,” Yulo said.
Beltran said it is “impossible” for sugar prices to breach the P60-per-kg level as the mill-gate prices of sugar have been hovering around P1,450 to P1,500 per 50-kg bag.
“Our warehouses are filled to the brim with sugar, thus any hike in sugar prices is artificial and being manipulated,” he said. “When retail prices of sugar goes beyond P60 per kilo, that should reflect in the existing mill gate price.”
The SRA board members also chided the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for “not doing its job to monitor retail prices.”
“We have not been remiss in reminding the Department of Trade and Industry to do their job and monitor retail prices of sugar because at the end of the day, it will be the producers who will be at the receiving end of this problem,” Yulo said.
The two SRA board members urged the DTI to look into the high prices of sugar as it would hurt both the consumers and producers while traders are earning huge profits.
“This has become a consumer issue and there is obvious profiteering. [DTI] do your job and take a closer look at who are manipulating the market,” they said.
Latest SRA data showed that as of April 5, the wholesale price of refined sugar in Metro Manila is about P2,214 per kg, which is equivalent to P44.28 per kilogram. However, retail prices of refined sugar in Metro Manila remains above the P60-per-kg level amid rising production.
The country’s sugar output as of end-March has reached 1.822 million metric tons, nearly 15 percent over the 1.584 MMT recorded in the previous year, SRA data showed.
Earlier this month, SRA Administrator Hermenegildo R. Serafica said the increase in sugar prices is unfounded as the country’s inventory of the sweetener is at an “all-time high.”
“There have been very little withdrawals in the mills such that all of their warehouses are full and most of them are already preparing additional spaces for storage. Some have rented additional warehouses while some have repurposed their other buildings such as basketball courts to hold sugar,” he said in a statement.
“Those who are spreading rumors of sugar prices increasing are trying to manipulate the market so they can increase their profits at the expense of the consumers and producers,” Serafica added.