By Madelaine B. Miraflor
It was just less than two weeks ago since the government announced the importation of 150,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar and the first batch of imported supply under this new program is already seen to arrive next week.
Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) Board Member Roland Beltran said that some traders were “quick” to comply with all the import requirements and are now targeting to bring in the first batch of additional imported sugar to the country in the next few days.
On October 2, SRA formally allowed the importation of 150,000 MT of sugar, a move that is contained within Sugar Order No. 2 (SO2) which also allowed end-users of sugar or sugar-using industries to directly import sugar for the first time ever.
“There are stocks that are now in transit. By this week, some of the stocks under this new importation program will already arrive,” Beltran said, adding that the additional imported sugar will come from Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.
The first two traders who were allowed to do the importation are ED&F Man Sugar Limited and All Asian Countertrade, Inc., both of which are in the business of trading sugar for both the domestic and international markets.
So far, there is still no end-users or sugar-using industrial firms that were able to obtain clearance to import.
This would be the second time the Philippines is importing sugar this year and would be the first time the country is importing at the start of a sugar crop year, which stretches from September to August of the following year.
All the 200,000 MT of sugar from the last importation, which was announced in June, already entered the country and is now being distributed.