Coca-Cola buying domestic sugar

Bacolod City, Negros Occidental — Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines said on Thursday that the company has cancelled the importation of a considerable amount of premixes for the third and fourth quarter of this year because of the availability of reasonably priced domestic sugar.

Catherine Avelino, the firm’s corporate communications director, said Coca-Cola has not made any plans to import premix sugar or high fructose corn syrup for 2012.

The company has been in the process of negotiating with local sugar traders for its 2012 requirements, Avelino said in a phone interview.

She added they also informed the Philippine Sugar Alliance (PSA) officials at their meeting Wednesday that the firm has not stopped buying domestic sugar.

“It is not true that Coca-Cola boycotted local sugar. A report detailing its domestic purchases this year has been submitted to Sugar Regulatory Administrator Ma. Regina Bautista Martin,” Avelino said.

She disclosed that the company has bought three million 50-kilogram bags of domestic sugar in 2011.

Avelino explained that Coca-Cola only considered importing sweeteners when the price of domestic sugar was beyond its reach.

Domestic sugar reached a high of P2,700 per 50 kilogram bag earlier.

She said Coca-Cola has projected that it would need five million 50-kilo bags of sugar in 2012, adding that this would increase or decrease depending on market conditions.

Manuel Lamata, president of the United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines, confirmed that Coca-Cola had informed them of the plan to source locally their 2012 sugar requirement and the cancellation of the importation of premixes in the second half of the year.

The PSA met with company officials led by procurement head Ronnie Asuncion at the Philippine Sugar Millers Association board room at the Security Bank building in Makati.

Lamata said the Coca-Cola officials, in their meeting with the PSA officials, were apologetic about their importation of premix sugar.

“They explained that they imported premix sugar because domestic sugar prices had gone too high and we told them that it was the first time in many years that the industry was able to make up for previous losses,” Lamata said.

“We also told them that their importation had depressed the prices of sugar in the domestic market,” he added. /INQUIRER