The Department of Agriculture (DA) will import approximately 200,000 metric tons (MT) of refined sugar by September to address a supply gap before the harvesting and milling seasons in October, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has announced.

“We will have importation of sugar. By September, we should have an arrival of at least 200,000 [metric] tons, refined, for the gap before harvest and refining,” Laurel said during a dinner conversation with reporters in Makati City on Wednesday.

Laurel said the DA and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) will deliberate on the sugar importation plan in July. He noted the proposed import volume is intended to cover the deficit expected in August and September when current sugar stocks are projected to decrease.

“So we have to have gap sugar of 200,000 tons at least by September or October for that milling season, then milling will continue again... as of the moment, there is no raw [sugar],” Laurel said.

In May, a group of sugar planters expressed support for the importation plan, citing the adverse impact of the El Niño phenomenon on the sugar industry.

Manuel Lamata, president of the United Sugar Producers Federation, said the proposed importation of from 185,000 MT to 200,000 MT of sugar would help meet local demand and bridge the gap between the El Niño and rainy seasons that began this month.

SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona had earlier said El Niño affected the tail end of this year’s sugarcane crop and is expected to impact next year’s production as well.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration declared the onset of El Niño on 4 July last year and its official end on 4 June this year.

According to the DA’s latest price watch, the retail price of refined sugar in major wet markets in Metro Manila ranged from P74 to P92 per kilo. The price of washed sugar is between P64 to P90 per kilo, and brown sugar is priced from P62 to P90 per kilo.