Planned sugar import volume worries agri stakeholders

MANILA, Philippines — The proposed importation of as much as 450,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar this year has drawn some apprehension among agricultural stakeholders, who expect data on production and consumption to dictate the volume being brought in.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) and Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) have recommended to import up to 450,000 MT of sugar, following the instruction of President Marcos to bring down retail prices of the sweetener.

While it recognizes the need for importation and a buffer stock of sugar, the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP) said the SRA should reveal the supply and demand figures to determine whether the proposed import volume is appropriate.

“Without knowing the actual and projected production and consumption figures for this crop year, we are groping in the dark as to the actual volume of imported sugar which we need for domestic consumption,” NFSP president Enrique Rojas said.

The stand of the NFSP is that the sugar importation program must be calibrated appropriately.

Also, Rojas said that whatever is imported “should arrive only after the close of milling, so that it will not depress millgate prices of sugar to the disadvantage of sugarcane farmers.”

The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) said this importation should come at a later time since the sugar planters and millers are at the peak of harvest and milling.

“When this (sugar importation) was discussed last week, we asked the DA to get the position of the sugar planters and millers. As far as we know, we are at the peak of harvest/milling activities and there is abundant local stocks of sugar at this point,” SINAG executive director Jayson Cainglet said in a statement.

In a Viber message, Luzon Federation of Sugarcane Growers Association president Arnel Toreja said their federation members are amenable to the 450,000-MT imported sugar on the condition that these are all refined sugar and that they will arrive “after the milling season starting month of June.”