Probe sought on lower mill gate prices of sugar

MANILA, Philippines - The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) is calling on the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to make sure that the low mill gate prices of sugar are reflected in the consumer market.

“We just hope they (DTI) can look into the retail price of sugar (in the market)  because the price has really gone down,” SRA administrator Anna Rosario Paner told reporters.

“We’re hoping the consumers can enjoy these low prices. We’re just appealing that it should reflect in the market,” she said.

Raw sugar prices have dropped from P1,500 per 50-kilogram bag to about P1,400 per kg/bag.

Paner has attributed the decline in prices to the excess in last year’s sugar importation.

Refined sugar is currently being retailed at P50 to P56 while brown sugar is being sold for P51.

“It should only be around P50. Then for brown sugar, lower by another P5,” Paner said.

Paner, nevertheless, maintained that the country has more than enough supply of sugar.

“We are doing a study on the fluctuation of prices, if it is translating into benefits for the consumers through some of the products that heavily depend on sugar,” Paner said.