BACOLOD CITY — The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has confirmed the decrease in the farm gate price of sugar since the first week of October as it encouraged producers to sell at lower retail prices directly to consumers.
SRA Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica, in a press statement on Friday, said that as of week-ending October 7, farm gate price has been down to PHP1,634.58 per 50-kilogram from a high of PHP2,003.60 at the close of milling in July 2018, a difference of almost PHP400 or an 18% drop in prices.
“SRA continues to monitor prices in the supermarkets and wet markets and those selling higher than prevailing prices are asked to explain,” he said.
Serafica said that prices of sugar have been on the downward trend since the start of the milling season on September 1 and the issuance of Sugar Order No. 2 (SO 2) on Sugar Import Program for Crop Year 2018-2019 on October 1.
He noted that the SO 2 was issued by the SRA Board in compliance with the directive of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Administrative Order No. 13 to remove non-tariff barriers and streamline administrative procedures on the import of agricultural products.
Serafica said that as of 2:30 p.m. on Friday, a total of 64,475 metric tons or 1,289,500 bags of 50-kilogram sugar are on the way to the ports as provided in SO 2.
For the current crop year, starting September 1, seven sugar mills and five sugar refineries have been operating.
Local raw sugar production has reached 1,623,040 bags of 50-kilograms while local refined sugar production has yielded 928,508 bags.
“More mills and refineries are scheduled to open in the coming weeks which will add to our available supply,” Serafica said.
Moreover, the SRA chief said they have also written operators of supermarkets and given them the contact details of the mills and refineries they can directly buy sugar from at a lower cost.
“The SRA also encourages planters associations to sell directly to the local groceries in their area,” he added.
“I have been speaking to planters associations, planters federations and millers and they have agreed to make their sugar available at their offices and sell directly to ordinary consumers at PHP50 per kg. for refined, PHP45 washed, and PHP41 raw,” Serafica said.
In Negros Occidental, member-planters of the Confederation of Sugar Producers (CONFED) have been direct-selling lower priced sugar to provincial consumers starting October 6.
The La Carlota Mill District Multi-Purpose Cooperative and the Associacion de Agricultores de La Carlota y Pontevedra in La Carlota City are selling washed or premium raw sugar at only PHP45 per kg.
The same quality of sugar is retailed between PHP48 and PHP56 in Negros Occidental. (Nanette Guadalquiver/PNA)
