The reduction in proposed import fees on sugar sweeteners may result in the influx of more sugar substitutes, causing mill gate sugar prices to further decline, the Sugar Council and the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (Nacusip) said.
This comes after the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) plans to reduce the proposed P10 per 50-kilo bag raw sugar equivalent of alternative sweeteners under Tariff Line 1702.
Alternative sweeteners include glucose, fructose, artificial honey, palm sugar, and maltose.
“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 mill gate sugar prices to drop further,” the Sugar Council and Nacusip said in a joint statement.
“Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr. stated that competition from imported artificial sweeteners could have caused the drop in mill gate sugar prices,” they added.
In their letter dated September 16, they requested Laurel’s help in providing data on the impact of artificial sweeteners on the consumption of locally produced sugar.
The SRA, in response, prepared the draft of a sugar order imposing the P10 import clearance fee.
Soft drinks and beverage manufacturers reportedly objected to the initial P10 amount, claiming that it would be inflationary.
The SRA accommodated the objection, and “decided to lower the prospective import clearance fee by a ‘considerable’ amount,” the groups said.
Except for a slight increase last week, mill gate 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, the mill gate 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 of 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.
Records at the Philippine Statistics Office reveal that the combined importation of these three artificial sweeteners has risen from 950,989 kilos in 2022 to 1,100,783 kilos in 2023.
The importation of sucralose registered at 267,567 kilos in 2022 to 433,775 kilos in 2023, aspartame at 416,662 kilos to 631,767 kilos, while acesulfame potassium decreased from 266,760 kilos to 2,241 kilos.
“The projected drop in sugar production this year due to the effects of El Niño and La Niña triggered more imports of artificial sweeteners,” Laurel said.
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.
“Instead of discouraging the entry of these imported products, which displace locally produced sugar, why is SRA proposing a lower import clearance fee for these imported sweeteners?” the Sugar Council and Nacusip asked./WDJ