Planters group asks DA to address declining sugar prices

THE National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP) has sought t he help of Department of Agriculture ( DA) secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel to address the declining sugar prices and other issues confronting the sugar industry.

In a meeting held in Metro Manila on Tuesday, Jan. 9, NFSP president Enrique D.

Rojas and other sugar industry leaders have requested Laurel for government intervention to correct the scenario which is causing the drop in sugar prices.

At present, Rojas pointed out that the current sugar prices are a far cry compared to the last crop year wherein sugar prices were at P2,400 to P2,500 per bag, at least P600 to P500 lower than last year when sugar prices were at P3,000 per bag.

“The prevailing sugar prices can hardly compensate for the hard work, financial investments and the risks taken by farmers to produce their crop,” Rojas said.

He he is speaking on behalf of their planter- members, majority of whom are small farmers, that they have to do something to protect them from the “almost disastrous” price levels.

Data f rom t he Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) show that the majority of refined sugar withdrawals are imported sugar, while only a small portion of withdrawals are domestic sugar.

At some point, the ratio in the withdrawals between imported and domestic sugar was almost 70 to 30 percent in favor of imported sugar.

Rojas explained that the abundance of, and preference for imported sugar dampened the demand for raw sugar, consequently causing the drop in sugar prices.

“U n l e s s t h i s o v e r importation issue is addressed, farmers will continue to suffer from low sugar prices, and the government should intervene to ensure that this does not happen again,” the NFSP president pointed out.

Rojas added that Laurel was receptive to the industry’s concerns and he pointed out that being a businessman himself, the latter understood the plight of the sugar farmers and promised that his office will come up with a concrete proposal that he would discuss with the sugar leaders and the SRA during their next meeting.

When SRA was planning to import sugar last crop year, Rojas and other sugar leaders recommended a conservative f i gure of approximately 250,000 metric tons (MT) to 300,000 MT.

However, SRA decided to import 440,000 MT, followed by the almost 64,000 MT i mportation under t he Minimum Access Volume ( MAV), and added another 150,000 MT importation towards the end of last crop year.

Rojas pointed out that the over importation, coupled with the bad timing of the arrival of the imports during milling season, caused the drop in sugar prices, which greatly harmed the sugar farmers.

Last month, SRA head Pablo Luis Azcona said there is no apparent need to import sugar at the moment based on the current demand figures.

According to Azcona they will be able to figure out the final demand numbers after the milling season.