The  Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said on Thursday that 25,000 metric tons (MT) of raw sugar will be exported to the United States next month.

“The US gave a quota this year of almost 25,000 metric tons of raw sugar,” SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said, describing the US as a premium market for the Philippines for raw sugar.

“The buying price of the U.S. is high. So, our exporters asked if they could export.”

Azcona explained that the country does not export the said agricultural product because the US quota price is lower than its domestic price. 

“Our farmers don't want to allocate special funds for the US because the price is lower. Why would they sell at a lower price? Why would they sell at lower prices when it's better to sell domestically? So, what we did, we did not allocate,” he said.

The SRA chief said the raw sugar traders volunteered to export and then asked for an import replenishment. 

Raw sugar exports to the US are used to stabilize its local prices at a time of overproduction, which usually occurs from January to March, Azcona said.

“That's the peak of milling. Our production of sugar in those months is a lot more than what we consume. So for the [farmgate] price for the farmers does not drop, we export, and after milling [season], we import again what we exported,” he explained.

Raw sugar exports will be shipped out by August, as they are expected to arrive in the US by September.

Last month, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the Philippines would be importing approximately 200,000 MT of refined sugar by September to fill the gap before the harvesting and milling seasons in October.