SUGAR Board Member Emilio Yulo III said that most of the sugar mills in Negros Occidental are opening this week which signals the opening of the milling season and end of “tiempo muerto,” or dead season.
Yulo said Sagay Sugar Central has been receiving canes and started the milling on September 1 while other sugar central such as First Farmers and Victorias Milling Company are also set to open within this week.
"We need a balanced price which is not too low for the producers so they would be able to cope with their previous losses and not too high for the consumers," Yulo said.
The actual price of sugar he said would be determined by Thursday, September 6 while on Friday, September 7 would be the first release of sugar quedans.
Yulo said that the sugar classification at the start of the milling is five percent for “A” sugar for the U.S. quota and 95 percent for the “B” sugar which is intended for domestic market.
The ending price of “B” sugar was pegged at P1, 800 to P1, 900 per 50-kilogram bags (lkg).
"I think that is a fair classification as we have done away with the ‘D’ sugar because we do not need to ship out to the World Market," Yulo pointed out.
On the High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), Yulo said that it's really so much of a concern right now.
"HFCS will take a back burner because our concern is more on sugar smuggling. Four apprehensions of smuggled sugar were made in the previous months and if the mill gate price of sugar continues to be at P1, 800 to P1, 900 that would translate to P2, 500 market price. The temptation to smuggle is high with the situation," Yulo said.
But he said the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) is constantly coordinating with the Bureau of Customs.
Yulo further said that one of their concerns also is the request of industrial users to directly import sugar.
"Our importation program is almost 90 percent complete as of August 30. The government imported 200,000 metric tons of sugar which were approved in July," Yulo said.