NEWSFLASH

---

EL NINO UPS SODAPOP CONSUMPTION, SUGAR IMPORTS

Manila, May 23, 1998 - Election-related activities combined with the heat caused by El Nino to increase soft drinks consumption by 37% in the first quarter of 1998, prompting sugar producers and millers to recommend the immediate importation of 200,000 tons of sugar for the beverage industry.

Philippine Sugar Millers Association executive director Jose Mari Zabaleta said the burgeoning domestic demand is one of the main factors that the government and the private sector will look into before decided how much raw sugar the Philippines has to import this year. Based in industry reports, Zabaleta said that there is a growing demand for soft drinks, which are sugar dependent.

The government had earlier abandoned its planned sugar importation, following reports of a bumper crop expected this year. But the sugar producers themselves noted a sudden hike in sugar consumption.

The proposed 200,000 metric tons importation includes the 45,000 metric tons which the Philippines has committed under the minimum access volume scheme.

---