BACOLOD City – The United Sugar Producers Federation (Unifed) is urging the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to scrap the A sugar, or the US sugar quota, for the coming crop year, especially if the supply is “just enough” for local consumption.
“There is no point to allocate A sugar when we will also import the differential to satisfy the local needs,” said Unifed president Manuel Lamata in a press statement.
Unifed has made its position known ahead of Sugar Order No. 1 which SRA may release next week. This may include the agency’s production forecast for the next crop year.
There are sectors pushing for a seven to eight percent sugar allocation for the US market this year, same as last year when Unifed agreed for a seven percent allocation.
However, the problem is, according to Lamata, “the farmers were short-changed because the differential given was only P100 instead of the expected P400.”
“In other words, somebody made money, but it was not the farmers,” Lamata stressed.
Scrapping the A sugar has been done in the past when the country’s sugar production did not meet local demands, he added.
Unifed further asserted: “It has been done, and we are asking SRA to do it again and prioritize the local market.”
Lamata also lashed at 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.
Sugar mills have already opened, Lamata said, but they have yet to hear from SRA as to their projection for this crop year./PN
