As the sugar shortage, which is artificial as claimed by planters, heads toward a resolution with prices of the commodity trending down and the Sugar Regulatory Administration finally getting its act together to allow the domestic use of sugar allotted for export to the US under a tariff rate quota, new problems are cropping up.

Sugar importation was the first litmus test of the administration of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos over Sugar Order 4 which would have allowed the importation of 300,00 metric tons of sugar had it not been barred by the President.

Subsequently, three officials, former Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian, former Sugar Regulatory Administration administrator Hermenigildo Serafica, and SRA board member Roland Beltran resigned their posts over the controversy.

The unused sugar supply allotted for the US quota scheme became controversial after the officials refused to grant the conversion for domestic consumption and instead the SRA opted for massive imports.

On 7 November, a draft Sugar Order 4 covering the crop year 2022 to 2023 seeks the conversion of all domestically produced Class "A" and "D" outstanding export sugars into class "B" sugar for domestic consumption.

"A" sugar is intended for the US market and "D" is for other export destinations and "B" is for domestic consumption.

Industry leaders said prices have indeed subsided from their highs in October as the 2022 to 2023 sugar harvest season gets underway but projections in the industry are not encouraging.

In Sugar Order 1 released last 13 September 2022, the SRA projected 1.876 million MT of sugar production this crop year, far short of the projected 2.4 million MT annual domestic consumption.

Industry players expect a big risk of another massive shortage situation during the off-season months unless the SRA plans a properly-calibrated importation program ahead of time.

Draft Sugar Order 4 raises several issues that the SRA ought to clarify such as its terms in which SRA wanted planters who did not produce the export sugar subject to conversion are wed to dictate the price of the conversion fee.