The Sugar Regulatory Administration yesterday released the country's reserve or "C" sugar and reclassified them to "B" or domestic sugar.

This was learned from the issue of SRA Order No. 5 penned by Administrator James Ledesma for the conversion of 40,000 metric tons of the reserve sugar to domestic.

SRA issued November 9 last year SO No. 3 which classified "C" sugar to prevent destabilizing the millgate prices that had dragged down to a perilous level that could have caused losses to sugar producers.

But, that move, helped improve millgate prices and stabilize sugar sales cost.

The move aims to establish and maintain a balance relation between production and sugar requirement and such marketing conditions that will ensure stabilized prices at levels reasonably profitable to the producers and fair to consumers.

However, lately unexpected market conditions rendered the primary objective of the "C" program even at the peak of production "irrelevant, hence its continuation is no longer necessary," Ledesma said.

Thus, the reserve sugar produced during the week endings December 11, 18 and 25 have been ordered reclassified as "B" or domestic sugar.

Last week, sugar prices climbed to a level as high as P1,206 per Lkg. in the Tolong sugar mill district in Negros Oriental.

That was the price reported by Preciosa Maturan, head of the Tolong Multi-Purpose Cooperative Inc. The release of the "C" sugar had been asked for by the Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations Inc., pointing out that it will no longer impact on millgate prices with market forces having taken over sugar trading.

There were reports of individual traders (non-registered with the SRA) who have joined the bidding for sugar. That indicates that some industrial users and private traders have seen what could be a perceived tightness of the crystal by the end of the milling season and are now hedging for that period.*RLE

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