Sugar group urges SRA to scrap US allocation

MANILA, Philippines — The United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED) is urging the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to scrap the A sugar allocation for the United States in the coming crop year if the supply is enough to meet local demand.

In a statement yesterday, UNIFED president Manuel Lamata said there was  no point in allocating sugar for the US market if there was a need to import to satisfy the domestic market’s needs.

The group made the statement in anticipation of SRA’s issuance of Sugar Order No.1, which will lay down the crop policy for crop year 2021 to 2022.

Lamata noted that there were sectors pushing for a seven to eight percent allocation for the US market.

He emphasized that crapping the A sugar allocation has been done in the past when the country’s sugar production did not meet local demands.

“It has been done, and we are asking SRA to do it again and prioritize the local market,” Lamata said.

Last March, the SRA terminated the seven percent export allocation for the US.  This means 100 percent of the country’s sugar output for the year will go to the domestic market.

The SRA issued the amendment order due to the more severe than initially expected impact of La Niña which brought heavy rains in all sugar producing regions, even flooding several sugar cane fields in Negros Occidental, particularly in Silay, EB Magalona, Victorias, Manapla and Cadiz.

It also adjusted its sugar production target for the current crop year to 2.101 million metric tons (MT) from its earlier target of 2.19 million MT.

The sugar crop year starts every September and ends in August.

SRA data as of Aug. 1 showed that raw sugar production had already surpassed the adjusted target as it hit 2.138 million MT.

The figure, however, is slightly lower than the 2.146 million MT registered in the same period last year.

Lamata also called out the SRA for the delay in coming up with crop estimates for this year.

“This has to be conducted immediately and we urge the SRA to check on sugar balances of the mills so we can come up with an accurate data,”Lamata said.

The SRA has yet to respond to requests for comment on the suggestions of the group as of this writing.

Last week, UNIFED expressed opposition to the request of the Ethanol Producers Association of the Philippines (EPAP) to import molasses, stressing that the local industry has enough stock.

Latest SRA data showed that molasses production reached 1.37 million MT as of Aug. 1, up 12.46 percent from last year.

In contrast, demand reached 1.098 million MT, higher than the 246,350 MT demand in the same period a year ago.