THE Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers, Inc. (Panayfed), sought the help of Agriculture secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel to address the present challenges confronting the sugar industry, foremost of which is the continuous decline in domestic sugar prices.
In a meeting in Manila on Jan. 9, 2024, Danilo Abelita, president of Panayfed, together with Enrique Rojas, president of National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP), and Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama, Jr., president of Confederation of Sugar Producers Association, Inc. (CONFED), and Engr. Terence Uygonco, president of Philippine Sugar Millers Association, appealed to Sec. Laurel for government intervention to correct the scenario which caused the drop in sugar prices. In the island of Panay, the domestically produced raw sugar prices dropped to a low of P2,361 from P3,000 per bag from last crop year. According to sugar industry leaders, the prevailing sugar prices can hardly compensate for the hard work, financial investments and the risks taken by farmers to produce their crop.
Thus, Panayfed, in behalf of its planter-members, majority of whom are small sugarcane farmers, has taken the cudgels to bring to the attention of the government, through Sec. Laurel, the plight of Philippine sugar industry, and asked for government intervention to stop the rapid decline in domestic sugar prices.
Data from the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) show that 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 refined sugar was almost 70% to 30% in favor of imported sugar.
The sugar leaders of Panayfed, NFSP and CONFED explained that: “The abundance of, and preference for imported sugar dampened the demand for raw sugar, consequently causing the drop in sugar prices. Unless this over importation issue is addressed, farmers will continue to suffer from low sugar prices, and government should intervene to ensure that this does not happen again.”
They added that Sec. Laurel was receptive to the industry’s concerns. “Being a businessman himself, the Agri secretary understood the plight of the sugar farmers, and he promised that his office will come up with concrete proposals which he will discuss with the sugar leaders and the SRA during our next meeting,” the sugar leaders added.
When SRA was planning to import sugar last crop year, the three federation presidents recommended a conservative figure 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 importation under the Minimum Access Volume (MAV), and added another 150,000-MT importation towards the end of last crop year.
The presidents of the three federations 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 prejudiced the sugar farmers./PN
