The Philippines expects to import sugar for the first time in six years in 2016, the industry regulator told Reuters, seeking to shore up domestic supplies because of declining output due to dry weather linked to an El Nino weather pattern. Raw sugar imports in 2016 may reach as much as 169,385 tonnes, Regina Bautista-Martin, the administrator of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said in a telephone interview.
The move to import by the Southeast Asian country could provide support for world sugar prices, with the market projected to see a supply deficit in the current 2015/16 crop year. The imports will partly replace planned exports, with the Philippines committed to ship as much as 135,508 tonnes of raw sugar next year to the United States, Bautista-Martin said.
The US purchases are under so-called tariff rates quota, which permits a certain amount of imports at a favourable tariff level from countries such as top producer Brazil, Thailand and others. The Philippines is the world's eighth-largest sugarcane producer and the third-largest US quota recipient, with a regular annual allocation of 135,508 tonnes. "We would like to assure the US that we are still interested in this quota that they have given us," Bautista-Martin said. "We would like to maintain that relationship."
In August, the SRA said all locally-produced raw sugar in 2015/16 crop year would be allocated to the domestic market, leaving nothing for the US quota commitment. The SRA cut its forecast for domestic raw sugar output for the 2015/16 crop year beginning September 1 to 2.228 million tonnes from 2.27 million tonnes, just enough to cover annual local consumption estimated at 2.25 million tonnes. This forecast could be revised down further after initial estimates showed a 30 percent drop in September to November output over the same period last year. Bautista-Martin said production figures would be reviewed again in the first quarter of 2016 to determine if additional imports will be required.
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