Philippines Defers Additional Sugar Import Plans Until Mid-2025

The Philippines will delay its decision on sugar importation until mid-2025, following the conclusion of the current crop year’s harvest, to first gain a clearer understanding of domestic supply. 

The decision was reached in a meeting between Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. and Sugar Regulatory Authority Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona on 7 November 2024. 

Sec. Tiu Laurel said there is no immediate need for additional imports as domestic supply of both raw and refined sugar remains stable and sufficient to meet projected needs. “Given the current situation, Administrator Azcona and I agreed that a decision on sugar importation could be delayed until after May, when the current harvest season ends,” he said. 

“Our supply for both Raw and Refined Sugar are stable and we are just beginning our harvest season, so Sec Laurel and I agree to delay the decision on sugar imports until after harvest sometime in May”, Azcona explained. 

Administrator Azcona said the current harvest season started slowly, with total cane volume reaching only a third of the amount harvested around the same period in the last crop year. He attributed this to lower sugar content per ton of cane due to El Niño. 

“Farmers had to delay their harvests to allow the cane to mature further and increase sugar content,” Azcona explained. 

The prolonged dry spells brought by El Niño resulted in the cane being physiologically immature, resulting in a 16% lower sugar content per ton of cane, thus constraining sugar output despite an increase in planting areas. Per SRA data, the area planted to sugar cane this year increased slightly to 389,461 hectares, up from 388,378 hectares the previous crop year. 

The SRA has estimated this year sugar production at 1.782M, a 7.2% drop, while the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts a 3.6% decline in Philippine raw sugar production for the current crop year. It projected that output will fall to 1.85 million metric tons from 1.92 million metric tons in the previous crop year.