By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
The United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED) has given the nod to the Department of Agriculture and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to allow the importation of 450,000 metric tons (MT) of refined sugar to help arrest retail prices.
In a statement issued by UNIFED president Manuel Lamata yesterday, he said they fully support President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr.’s decision to import refined sugar that will hopefully control runaway retail prices.
The stakeholders are being consulted on the volume of sugar, which varies between 400,000 and 450,000 MT which, according to UNIFED, “is an acceptable volume for buffer stocks amidst speculation that there may be a shortage by the end of the milling season.”
Lamata urged the SRA to “program well the release of this imported sugar to ensure that mill gate prices will not be drastically affected to the detriment of the sugar farmers.”
UNIFED will leave the discretion of formulating the guidelines and mechanics for importation to Marcos and the SRA.
Earlier, other sugar groups such as the Confederation of Sugar Producers Association Inc. (CONFED) and the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP) requested data from the SRA first before they could issue any comment regarding the new proposal to import sugar into the country.
CONFED president Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama, Jr. said since the onset of the milling season, there will be a projected shortage in domestic sugar production over consumption.
Valderrama pointed out all sugar imports, if justified, should be calibrated on the basis of verified requirements and the time of need. Thus, only the necessary volume of sugar should be imported at the proper time.
He further pointed out that imports should arrive during the peak milling season so that these will not depress domestic mill gate prices.
On the other hand, NFSP president Enrique Rojas also voiced the same opinion as Valderrama and further added that should figures justify the requested importation, they strongly recommend that only the necessary volume of sugar should be imported.
Rojas also said the importation should arrive at the end of the milling season, so that its entry into the country will not depress domestic mill gate sugar prices./DGB, WDJ