THE Department of Agriculture (DA) on Monday said it had approved the request of its attached agency, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), to export 100,000 metric tons (MT) of raw sugar to the United States.
“We will export raw sugar under the US quota system as soon as possible to provide immediate relief to the [local] industry,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said, referring to the continuous drop in the commodity’s farmgate prices due to supply surplus.
The US import quota, originally set at 143,000 MT, had been reduced to 100,000 MT by US refiners reportedly after Philippine officials took time to decide on the deal. But Filipino exporters still stand to profit, the DA said, since quota prices under the US system are usually higher than the global market.
SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said the export approval is crucial in balancing supply and demand amid higher output in the current crop year.
Raw sugar production has been on an upward trend in the Marcos administration, Azcona noted, saying the volume of exports had risen three times — 33,000 MT in 2024; 66,000 MT, 2025; and 100,000 MT this year.
Artificial sweeteners
Another cause of the decline in domestic sugar prices is the surge in the imports of artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes, which have doubled to a volume equivalent to over 500,000 MT of raw sugar, Azcona said.
Some of the “high-intensity sweeteners“ approved by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration include aspartame, sucralose, saccharin, acesulfame potassium (Ace-K), and cyclamate.
The DA will closely monitor the situation, Tiu Laurel said, raising the possibility of regulating the entry of these products for disrupting the market. He added that the DA will also ask the Department of Health to look into their effects, including their health risks.
Regulating the entry of artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes, and strengthening local demand may be necessary to stabilize prices in the sugar sector in the long term, Azcona said.
“There are a lot of [long-term] solution suggestions, but we need a [short-term] one to help the farmers now. They cannot wait,“ he pointed out.
The DA and the SRA had previously announced the extension of a moratorium on sugar imports until December 2025.
