SRA awards private firms contract to bring in 100,000-MT of sugar

A number of private companies, trading houses, and sugar millers are bringing in 100,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar soon after the government awarded them on Friday winning contracts. Central Azucarera Don Pedro and Capiz Central Azucarera are only among those who will bring in sugar to the Philippines in anticipation of low production for crop year ending August 2010, said Rosemarie Gumera, Sugar Regulatory Administration's (SRA) manager for planning and vice-chairperson of the bidding committee. From a floor price of P75 per 50-kilogram bag, tender for the service fee went as high as P250 to as low as P79 per bag. Traders said sugar may come from Thailand and Guatemala, although some are not discounting Brazil as another source of imported sugar. Traders are given not later than September 15 to bring in all sugar shipments. Earlier, the government was eyeing to import as much as 150,000 MT of sugar, but the tax-expenditure scheme of the Finance Department provided for up to 100,000 MT sugar for retailers and repackers only. The sugar industry maintained that sugar output for crop year 2009 to 2010 will be in the vicinity of 1.79 million MT versus the country's annual consumption of 2.1 million MT. The SRA blamed the recent dry spell for the delay in raw sugar milling. Milling usually starts September but because of the negative effects of El Nino weather phenomenon on sugarcane, the milling has been moved to November. The SRA assured that supply will remain stable with an inventory of approximately 400,000 MT by end-July. This volume is good for at least two months. —JE/OMG, GMANews.TV