New round of sugar import allocations out this month

The government will announce sugar import allocations under the second tranche within the month to satisfy the call of private traders to bring in more stocks to address the perceived tightness in supply. “We are working on some paperwork that needs to be released soon so that interested importers who want to bring in sugar may qualify for the allocations," Rosemarie Gumera, assistant administrator of the Sugar Regulatory Administration, said on Thursday. The agency will ask traders to post a minimum performance bond of P184.35 per 50-kilogram bag for the second tranche of 90,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar. Meanwhile, the proposed rebidding of the 44,000 MT of sugar from the first tranche was still on hold pending the results of sugar import allocations to importers and traders. “This does not mean that we are scrapping the rebidding for the remaining 44,000 (MT)," Gumera said. "We just want to know if importers prefer allocation [over] an open tender," she added, noting that the import appetite through an earlier auction had not been as strong. But import interest might also have waned since the price of domestic sugar had started to stabilize, she pointed out. The government has allowed sugar imports of as much as 150,000 metric tons due to a perceived tightness in local supply. The first batch of 60,000 MT is expected to arrive by May 15, while the second batch of 90,000 MT is due by July 31. — NPA, GMANews.TV