Oct 2, 2025
https://mb.com.ph/2025/10/02/sra-halts-molasses-importation-amid-price-crash
The Philippines is implementing a temporary ban on molasses importation to protect the local industry from a surge in imports and the sharp decline in millsite prices, according to the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA).
Under Molasses Order (MO) No. 1, the SRA said it is suspending imports of molasses to provide the government time to review policies and find a balance that is seen as beneficial to both producers and users.
The SRA reported that molasses imports for the crop year 2024-2025 stood at 853,285 metric tons (MT) as of Aug. 31. This amount is 28 percent higher than the average annual imports in the three previous crop years.
The surge in imports ensued despite a strong domestic production, which grew by 21 percent to 1.18 million metric tons (MT) by the end of August, compared to 975,934 MT in the prior year.
The SRA said this resulted in a domestic millsite stock balance of 303,961 MT.
Industry stakeholders have been calling for a moratorium on molasses importation, following decline in the withdrawal of local molasses and a corresponding decrease in the price of domestic molasses.
The SRA said the average millsite price of domestic molasses is now ₱12,000 per MT, 30 percent lower than last year’s average of ₱18,000 per MT.
Under MO No. 1 dated Sept. 30, the SRA noted that there is also a concern among stakeholders on the discrepancy between the volume of local molasses used as feedstock and the corresponding volume of such products.
The bulk of molasses production in the country is used by ethanol producers, the agency said.
Under Republic Act (RA) No. 9367, or the Biofuels Act, all liquid fuels for motors and engines are required to contain locally sourced biofuels.
Molasses, a by-product of the sugar milling process, is used as a feedstock to produce bioethanol.
“There is thus a need to impose a moratorium on the importation of molasses, and to revisit and review the policies and practices on the same, if only to ensure a mutually beneficial relationship between the local production and the importation of molasses,” the order read.
The SRA is imposing the ban on molasses imports until Dec. 31, which can be extended or lifted depending on the stock balance.
SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said the agency will leverage this temporary pause to take a closer look at why local molasses remain unwithdrawn and unused.
Azcona said it is also imperative that the SRA verifies that the molasses used by ethanol producers is indeed local.
Such an import ban is necessary, according to Azcona, as there is still no concrete policy on molasses importation that ensures local farmers’ produce is consumed first.
To this end, he emphasized that imports should only be a “non-definite stopgap measure if we have a locally produced molasses shortage.”
The SRA said a “performance-based policy” for molasses imports will be one of the outcomes during the ban.
Under the moratorium, the SRA shall no longer accept applications for “clearances for release of imported molasses."
However, all pending applications filed with the SRA before Sept. 30 are deemed exempt.
Similarly, imported molasses that is already in transit or covered by a purchase order is also not covered.
However, the SRA stated that imported molasses arriving in the country after Nov. 30 would be covered by MO No. 1, thereby not exempt.
Any violation of provisions under the order would be a ground for revocation or non-renewal of the importer’s registration with the agency.