Sugar producers seek consultation on importation plan

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The National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP) and the Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers (Panayged) have joined calls to consult industry stakeholders in its plan to import 200,000 metric tons (MT) of refined sugar by September.

In a joint statement emailed Tuesday, the two sugar groups appealed to the government to craft “a data-based, transparent and consultative sugar importation plan.”

NFSP president Enrique Rojas and Panayfed president Danilo Abelita called on the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to conduct a consultation and enlighten the industry on the basis of the proposed importation plan.

READ: PH importing sugar in Sept to plug supply gap

“We need to see the sugar production and demand figures which were used as the basis for such a plan,” Rojas and Abelita said.

Earlier, the Confederation of Sugar Producers Association (Confed) wrote a letter to Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. expressing their concerns over the proposed importation of refined sugar before local harvest begins.

Confed President Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama said sugar stakeholders were not consulted before such pronouncements were made.

The group is asking the SRA to consult stakeholders to discuss any policy governing the industry for crop year 2024-2025 beginning in September this year.

“Consistent with our frequently-stated position, we reiterate that any sugar importation plan should be data-based, calibrated, totally transparent and fair, done in consultation with industry stakeholders and therefore immune from speculation and manipulation,” Valderrama said.

Tiu Laurel unveiled last week the government’s plan to import 200,000 MT of refined sugar to stabilize retail prices and domestic supply.

He said the importation plan has been on the table for six months and the arrival of the imported sweetener would be timed to fill the gap before the next cropping season.

READ: Citing surplus, millers buck new sugar importation

“That is the deficit we are seeing. We expect current stocks to decline by August or September, so we need to plug the supply gap by importing 200,000 metric tons of refined sugar by September or October,” he added.

Tiu Laurel said the Department of Agriculture and the SRA would flesh out the details in early July.

The NFSP had said any plan to purchase imported sugar “should only be the last resort” and only be done “when absolutely necessary.”

The United Sugar Producers Federation (Unifed) backed the importation plan as the El Niño phenomenon delayed the beginning of the harvest season.

As of Tuesday, refined sugar retailed from P74 to P90 per kilogram in Metro Manila markets, lower than P86 to P110 per kg in the same period last year, based on the DA’s price monitoring.