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Traders lose appetite for sugar imports


Sugar traders who bid for the contract to import 60,000 metric tons (MT) of the commodity are willing to bring in only a quarter of the total given stabilizing local prices. The government has given the seven traders the greenlight to start importing the duty-free sugar, Rosemarie S. Gumera, a member of the Sugar Regulatory Administration’s bidding committee, told reporters on Monday. "We have already given the notice of allocation to the [seven] winning bidders last week after we received the [P2.1-billion] tax expenditure subsidy from the [Finance] department," she said, referring to the import subsidy that the National Government is shouldering. Gumera said traders only want to import 14,900 MT of duty-free sugar, which is only a fraction of the 60,000 MT that was bid out in February and which represents the first tranche of the 150,000 MT that will enter the country this year. The government has not set a new bidding date for the 45,100-MT balance. "For now, we would like to concentrate on the remaining 90,000 MT (the second tranche) because we would like to see the appetite of the market," Gumera said. She said 11 international traders who will bring in the 85,500 MT and food processors who will import the 4,500 MT via an export replacement scheme had been given until Friday to inform the SRA how much they are willing to avail themselves of. "I think response [to] this one will be positive. The prices of sugar in the world market are still low, which means that they will still be able to earn money if they will import the sugar," Gumera said. Sugar prices at the Intercontinental Exchange in New York dropped to 18.64 cents per pound on Friday from 30 cents last February 1. Meanwhile, the local sugar price had remained stable at P52 per kilogram, data from the Bureau of Agriculture Statistics showed. The country plans to import 150,000 metric tons of sugar this year — the first time since 2006 — to stabilize prices, which reached an all-time high of P60 a kilo in January and to have ensure enough buffer stock for the lean months. The shipments are expected to arrive in the second and third quarters. This year, the SRA expects sugar supply to reach 2.57 million MT by the crop year ending in August, while demand will likely hit 2.1 million metric tons. — NPA, GMANews.TV

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