BACOLOD CITY – The country’s largest sugar producers’ federation has expressed support for the proposal of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to import 150,000 metric tons (MT) of purely refined sugar to stabilize supply and market prices.
In a statement on Tuesday, the United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines (UNIFED), through its president Manuel Lamata, said the volume should just be enough not to affect mill gate prices.
Lamata, who heads the alliance of more than 30,000 member-planters, dismissed the joint statement issued last week by the Confederation of Sugar Producers, National Federation of Sugar Planters, Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers, and the Philippine Sugar Millers Association that pushed for the importation of 300,000 MT instead.
“Logic dictates that if the 300,000 MT of imported sugar they are proposing reaches our country by November or December, which is the peak of our milling season, for sure mill gate prices will collapse,” Lamata said.
He questioned if these sugar groups are protecting the interests of their member-planters since such an act alone indicates they are ready to “suppress local prices of planters.”
Lamata also called out the other federations for “trying to publicly undermine the new leadership” of the SRA Board days after supposedly extending their hand of support.
Acting SRA Administrator David John Thaddeus Alba earlier said upon the recommendation of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the SRA is working on the importation order of 150,000 MT of purely refined sugar “as a balancing act to stabilize market prices” to be provided in Sugar Order (SO) No. 2.
“Our target is to have the SO 2 released by mid-September so its arrival will not interfere with the resumption of operations by our sugar refineries that normally starts mid-November,” he added.
Alba said the SRA would “draw up the mechanics equitable to all players, before submitting the same to Malacañang for its approval”. (PNA)
