USDA sees PHL sugar imports hitting 425K MT B J E Y. A @jearcalas
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HE Philippines may import 425,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar in the current crop year 2022-2023, as projected local production remains insufficient to meet the country’s total demand for the commodity. In its biannual world sugar report, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) revised downward its output forecast for the Philippines from 2 million metric tons (MMT) to just 1.85
MMT. The latest output estimate is just a tad higher than the 1.8 MMT recorded production volume in the previous crop year, based on historical USDA data. With the lower production forecast, the USDA sees the Philippines’s sugar import volume for the Philippines reaching a fouryear high. The USDA projected that the Philippines will import 350,000 MT of refined sugar and 75,000 MT of raw sugar from the September 2022 to August 2023 period. The USDA estimated that the
country’s total sugar consumption would fall to 2.2 MMT, 4.34 lower than the previous crop year’s 2.3 MMT. The Sugar Regulatory Administration’s (SRA) pre-mill production forecast for the current crop year stood at 1.876 MMT. The SRA earlier greenlighted a 150,000-MT refined sugar importation program in the current crop year. Latest SRA data showed that about 146,000 MT of refined sugar under the said importation program has entered the country al-
ready as of November 13. The country’s lackluster production in the previous crop year due to typhoon damage caused a deficit in supply, pushing sugar prices to record-high levels. Sugar industry stakeholders earlier pointed out that the anemic pre-mill production forecast of the SRA points to one thing: the need for importation. (Related story: www.businessmirror.com. ph/2022/09/09/pre-mill-output-projectionssignal-more-sugar-imports/)
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Thursday, November 24, 2022 Vol. 18 No. 43
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DOLE eyes aid to small firms for 13th month payout
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ITH 21 affirmative votes, the Senate on Wednesday approved on second and third reading the P5.268trillion budget bill for 2023, which the Palace had certified as urgent.
The voting proceeded to third reading after the majority overruled Minority Leader Koko Pimentel who wanted to postpone it to Monday, saying the certification from Malacañang did not specify a public calamity or emergency. “Absent such reason [calamity or emergency] the certification has no leg to stand on to justify dispensing the rule,” said Pimentel, invoking the 3-day gap required between the second and third reading on legislative measures. The P5.268-trillion budget bill embodied in House Bill 448 appropriates funds for government operations from January 1 to December 31, 2023. It will now go to a bicameral panel of senators and congressmen tasked to reconcile conficting provisions in the two budget versions separately passed by the Senate and the House earlier on third reading. Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri vowed to spread out over at least two 5-day work weeks the budget deliberations next year, acknowledging the difficulty of both senators and Senate staff in tackling multiple agency budgets in one day, sometimes holding marathon sessions of from 12 to 16 hours. The second and third reading vote missed by two days the earlier projection by Sen. Juan Edgardo
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HE government is now studying giving a new round of assistance for companies struggling to pay the 13th month benefits of their workers, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). In a radio interview on Wednesday, Labor and Employment Secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma said the aid may be in the form of a subsidy. “We are studying if we can give assistance or subsidy to companies, which are unable to comply with the 13th month law,” Laguesma said. The labor official said the assistance may also be the reimplementation of the interest-free loan facility of the Small Business Corp.
FOR LOVE OF THE GAME Kids enjoy an early-morning basketball game on a makeshift court next to a rice field in Tanay, Rizal, in this photo taken on Wednesday, November 23, 2022. BERNARD TESTA
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VIETNAM SAYS TO HIKE IMPORTS FROM PHL
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IETNAM on Wednesday announced it is open to “balancing” its trade with the country by increasing its imports of Philippine goods and services. Vietnam National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue made the remark during his meeting with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. in Malacañang last Wednesday. In a statement, the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) said Vuong “declared that Vietnam is planning to import more commodities and goods from the Philippines.” “And I also believe that apart from rice trade, we can expand our current relations to the import and export of construction materials, particularly cement,” Vuong said.
During the 40th and 41st Association of Southeast Asian Nation (Asean) Summits in Cambodia, Marcos said he wants to address the country’s trade deficit with Vietnam. Last year, the country registered $4.2 billion worth of imports from Vietnam, most of which are rice imports. Meanwhile, the total exports to Vietnam was only $1.6 billion. Marcos welcomed the pronouncement of Vuong since it will help further strengthen the bilateral relations between Philippines and Vietnam. “So, it looks like those of us in government will have to catch up to the business community and strengthen and make the—find
new ways to coordinate, to help one another, especially as we come out of this pandemic economy and with the problems that we are feeling because of the conflict in Ukraine,” Marcos said. The contingent led by Vuong will be holding a business and investment forum on Thursday, which aims to present to Vietnamese businessmen possible investment opportunities in the country. “I hope that will lay the groundwork for further strengthening trade and investment ties bilaterally. I suggest that we can work bilaterally and also multilaterally to address the challenges facing our region,” Vuong said. S “V,” A
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PESO EXCHANGE RATES US 57.3940 ■ JAPAN 0.4063 ■ UK 68.2242 ■ HK 7.3420 ■ SINGAPORE 41.6623 ■ AUSTRALIA 38.1555 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 15.2725 ■ EU 59.1503 ■ KOREA 0.0424 ■ CHINA 8.0372
Source: BSP (November 23, 2022)