BACOLOD City – The lowering of proposed import fees on sugar alternatives might trigger the influx of more sugar substitutes in the country, causing millgate sugar prices to further drop.
This was the apprehension of the Sugar Council and National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP) amid reports that the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) is planning to reduce the proposed P10 per 50-kilo bag raw sugar equivalent of alternative sweeteners under Tariff Line 1702, such as glucose, fructose, artificial honey, palm sugar, maltose and others.
“Based on a news report December 19 by BusinessWorld Online, Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. of the Department of Agriculture (DA) stated that competition from imported artificial sweeteners could have caused the drop in millgate sugar prices,” the two groups pointed out in their joint press statement.
On September 16, the said groups sent a letter to Tiu, requesting the Secretary’s help in providing data on the impact of artificial sweeteners on the consumption of locally produced sugar.
“The SRA’s proposed sugar order to monitor the volume of these imports is a move in the right direction. However, lowering the proposed P10 import clearance fee might increase the importation of these sugar substitutes and cause millgate sugar prices to drop further,” the Sugar Council and NACUSIP added.
Except for a slight increase last week, millgate sugar prices have plummeted from a weekly average high of P2,827.85 per 50-kilo bag in Week Ending October 20 to P2,498.55 in Week Ending December 1, according to the latest SRA Weekly Millsite Prices of Raw Sugar and Molasses Report. At one mill two weeks ago, millgate sugar price plunged as low as P2,450 per bag, which is barely above production cost.
Among the factors being blamed for the drop in prices are the untimely arrival at the milling season’s start of the 240,000 metric tons imported refined sugar under Sugar Order No. 5 for Crop Year 2023-2024 and the importation of artificial sweeteners. Imported refined sugar and imported sugar substitutes displace the demand for locally produced raw and refined sugar.
Aside from high fructose corn syrup, the three most popular artificial sweeteners used in beverage manufacturing are sucralose, aspartame and acesulfame potassium. Scientific data disclose that sucralose is 600 times sweeter than sugar, while aspartame and acesulfame potassium are 200 times sweeter than sugar, the sugar groups said.
“The projected drop in sugar production this year due to the effects of El Niño and La Niña triggered more imports of artificial sweeteners,” the group said quoting Laurel in a news report published on Dec. 20.
The Sugar Council and NACUSIP pointed out that stiffer measures should be imposed to discourage the entry of all kinds of sugar substitutes and artificial sweeteners in the country to safeguard the livelihood of thousands of sugarcane farmers and their families./PN
