President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has approved the additional importation of up to 150,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar to stabilize the commodity's price and boost the country's stock. *(PPA Pool/Pixabay)*

This developed following Mracos' meeting with the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) headed by SRA Acting Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona and Board Member Ma. Mitzi Mangwang, representing millers. In an interview, Marcos said they have yet to determine the amount of sugar the country would import. "We agreed to additional importation of sugar to stabilize the prices. The maximum amount will be 150,000 MT but probably less," he said on Monday, May 15. "The exact amount will be determined once we have determined the exact amount of supply, which will come at the end of this month," he added. The Chief Executive said the government is opening the importation of sugar to all traders. To improve productivity, Marcos said he also approved moving the start of the milling season from August to September this year. "That's important for the corresponding increase in production by approximately 10 percent," he said. The President also ordered the SRA to expedite block farming initiatives to increase production. Block farming is a system by which small farm lots are consolidated into at least a 30-hectare-block farm. There are currently 21 block farms in the country, averaging at least 40 hectares each. Once organized into block farms, farmers are entitled to financial and mechanization support for increased production. "Consolidation is an important part of agro-industrial production. We're looking at increasing the budget for block farming to accelerate the process of organizing the block farms," Marcos said. Based on the SRA's forecast, the country will have a negative ending stock of 552,835 MT by the end of August 2023, the end of the milling season, and importing another 100,000 MT to 150,000 MT of sugar is necessary to avert a shortfall. The SRA said that, as of May 7, 2023, the country has a sufficient supply of raw sugar with a beginning stock of 160,000 MT. However, the country will still need to import an additional 100,000 to 150,000 MT of sugar as the expected local production and importation under the Minimum Access Volume (MAV) mechanism could not cover the 3.1MMT demand. With the issuance of Sugar Order No. 6, Azcona told President Marcos that sugar farmers are happy because they benefit from the stable farmgate price of raw sugar, averaging at P62/kg for the current crop year (CY). It exceeds the PhP38/kg average farmgate price in CY 2021-2022. Azcona also said that opening the milling season in September will improve raw sugar recovery because it will minimize the milling of young canes.