Thai port congestion may affect PH arrival of sugar shipment–traders

The current port congestion in Thailand is expected to affect the arrival of sugar imports in the country as most of the shipments would be coming from the Southeast Asian nation.

A total of 200,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar are bound to arrive in the Philippines as a way to stabilize the supply and price of the commodity in the market.

Rudy delos Reyes, president of trading company Delmax, said in an interview that most of the shipments would be coming from Thailand given its huge surplus for sugar. The downside is that these shipments may be delayed as Thailand’s major port is suffering from congestion.

“There is currently a port congestion in Thailand,” he said. “This might affect the schedule of the arrival of shipments, but we are optimistic that the delay won’t be significant.”

Delmax is one of the companies that would be bringing sugar into the country, along with Universal Robina Corp. (URC) and Oro Allado Commodities.

International logistics company Speedworks also stated on its website that aside from port congestion, there may be surcharges on Thailand’s shipping costs due to delays in unstuffing cargoes in the port.

Outbound shipments may experience one week delays, since the port may not be able to catch up with the volume of containers that are flooding its gateways, the company said.

The first tranche of sugar imports – a total of 200,000 50-kilogram bags from URC – is expected to arrive in the country sometime next week.

URC is also the supplier of refined sugar for bottler companies like Pepsi Cola Philippines and Coca-Cola Femsa Corporation. /jpv