THE retail price of refined sugar is showing signs of easing as nearly all imports have arrived in the country, doubling local supply of the commodity ahead of the Yuletide season.
Latest Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) reports showed that the average retail price of refined sugar in Metro Manila markets fell by a peso to P100.495 per kilogram as of November 25 from P101.08 a week earlier.
SRA data showed that the average price of refined sugar in Metro Manila supermarkets fell to P102.13 per kilogram from P102.02 per kilogram while those sold in wet markets declined to P98.86 per kilogram from P100.14 per kilogram.
Likewise, the wholesale price of refined sugar during the reference period softened to P4,438.18 per 50-kilogram bag (P88.76 per kilogram) from P4,555.45 per 50-kilogram bag (P91.109 per kilogram), based on SRA data.
The data also showed that 99.99 percent—about 149,976.26 metric tons (MT) of the authorized 150,000-MT importation program in the current crop year—has entered the country.
The imports boosted the country’s total refined-sugar supply as of November 27 to 511,798.06 MT, 41.68 percent higher than last year’s 361,242.85 MT.
Higher demand
THE country’s refined-sugar production as of end-November rose by more than half on an annual basis to 211,826.95 MT owing to favorable weather conditions and early refining operations. The latter was driven by higher demand.
Total refined sugar demand during the period was estimated at 287,767.75 MT, 17.56 percent over the 244,776.25 MT recorded in the same period last year.
SRA data showed that total physical refined stock (total supply minus total demand) was at 224,030.31 MT, 92.36 percent higher than last year’s 116,466.6 MT.
SRA data indicated some softening in the retail prices of raw sugar in Metro Manila markets, especially in wet markets.
The data showed that the retail price of raw sugar in Metro Manila market halted its upward trend as it averaged P86.105 per kilogram as of November 25 from P86.44 per kilogram a week ago.
The average retail price of raw sugar in Metro Manila wet markets declined to P83.86 per kilogram from P84.71 per kilogram. Meanwhile, raw sugar sold in Metro Manila supermarkets continues to increase, hitting a new record-high of P88.35 per kilogram, based on SRA data.
SRA data showed that raw sugar production as of November 27 rose by 29.37 percent year-on-year to 523,567 MT due to higher volume of sugarcanes milled and better yield.
USDA projections
ABOUT 6.192 million MT (MMT) of sugarcanes were milled during the reference period, which was nearly a quarter higher than the 4.962 MMT volume recorded in the same period of last year. Sugar recovery yield, meanwhile, improved to 1.76 50-kilogram bag per ton of sugarcane milled from 1.74 level last year, based on SRA data.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) earlier projected that the Philippines may import 425,000 MT of sugar in the current crop year 2022-2023, as projected local production remains insufficient to meet the country’s total demand for the commodity.
In its biannual world sugar report, the USDA revised downward its output forecast for the Philippines from 2 million metric tons (MMT) to just 1.85 MMT. The latest output estimate is just a tad higher than the 1.8 MMT recorded production volume in the previous crop year, based on historical USDA data.
With the lower production forecast, the USDA sees sugar import volume for the Philippines reaching a four-year high.
The USDA projected that the Philippines will import 350,000 MT of refined sugar and 75,000 MT of raw sugar from the September 2022 to August 2023 period. (See “USDA sees PHL sugar imports hitting 425K MT,” 24 November 2022, BusinessMirror)