No Sugar Imports Until End of Harvest

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD CITY – Top officials from the Department of Agriculture and the Sugar Regulatory Administration announced that no sugar importation will occur until mid-2025, following the conclusion of the current crop year’s harvest, to gain a clearer understanding of the domestic supply.

The decision was reached during a meeting on Thursday, November 7, between Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr., Sugar Regulatory Authority Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona, Board Member Dave Sanson, and Andre Corro.

In a press statement provided by the SRA to local media on Sunday, DA Secretary Tiu Laurel stated that there is no immediate need for additional imports, as the domestic supply of raw and refined sugar remains stable and sufficient for projected needs.

“Given the current situation, Administrator Azcona and I agreed that a decision on sugar importation could be delayed until after May, when the current harvest season ends,” he said.

Azcona explained that the supply of both raw and refined sugar is stable as the harvest season is just beginning. He agreed with Tiu Laurel that there would be no sugar imports until after the harvest, expected sometime in May or June.

Azcona noted that the current harvest season started slowly, with the total cane volume at only a third of what was harvested during the same period last crop year.

He attributed this to lower sugar content per ton of cane due to El Niño.

“Farmers had to delay their harvests to allow the cane to mature further and increase sugar content,” Azcona said.

He added that the prolonged dry spells brought by El Niño led to physiologically immature cane, resulting in 16% lower sugar content per ton of cane, limiting sugar output despite an increase in planting areas.

SRA data showed that the area planted with sugar cane this year increased slightly to 389,461 hectares, up from 388,378 hectares last crop year.

In Sugar Order No. 1, the SRA estimated this year’s sugar production at 1.782 million metric tons, a 7.2% decline from last year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasted a 3.6% drop in Philippine raw sugar production for the current crop year, projecting output to decrease to 1.85 million metric tons from 1.92 million metric tons last crop year.

The current crop year ends in August next year.