BACOLOD CITY – The Sugar Regulatory Administration has no plans for sugar importation now, disclosed its head, Pablo Luis Azcona.
That was the response of Azcona to the statement issued by the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP), which expressed concern on what it calls excessive sugar importation under Sugar Order No. 8 issued by the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA).
Importation happens after milling, the last being July, and we are already in October, and milling under a new crop year, Azcona said in a statement.
“Secretary Laurel and I have agreed that there will be absolutely no talks of a sugar importation until May or June 2026, when we already have concrete production numbers. Only then will we decide if we need imports or not, unless there is an obvious need for such,” the SRA stressed.
NFSP president Enrique Rojas said that while they agreed to an initial importation of 150,000 metric tons, a greater volume has already entered the country, as of September 14.
“With a huge projected stock balance and the excessive importation under Sugar Order No. 8, sugar prices will suffer in the early months of the milling season,” Rojas said in a statement.
“Real farmers know for a fact that any talk of importation brings speculation and lowers the farmer’s sugar price, so we do not do it during the milling season. That is why I don’t understand where these statements (on importation) are coming from,” Azcona said.
“Maybe their main intention is to lower the farmer price and destabilize the sugar industry”, he added.
All importation under his administration have been consultative, calibrated, and objectively allocated, based on performance, and this is clearly evidenced by stable farmgate and retail prices, Azcona said.
In the past three years under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., both farmgate/millgate and retail prices of sugar have been stable and there has been a large increase in planted area. But before this administration, sugarland decreased from 420,000 hectares to 380,000 hectares in 2022, and now it has grown to 403,000 hectares in 2025. Production has increased as well, he added.
“That is a clear indicator of stable and favorable farmer prices, hence farmers choose to plant more sugarcane. That is why we should always be careful about our statements, unless our goal is to lower farmer prices,” Azcona further said. (Gilbert Bayoran via tvds photo by tvds)