Bacolod City – Three more sugarcane producers’ federations have joined the call not to import refined sugar, stressing that there is adequate supply as of this time, citing a report of the Sugar Regulatory Administration.
In a joint statement, the Confederation of Sugar Producers Association Inc. (CONFED), National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP) and Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers (PANAYFED) urged the government to engage in an earnest dialogue with the sugar industry to resolve vital issues.
In a memorandum order issued by Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban, the DA was directed to expedite the importation of 64,050 metric tons of refined sugar through the Minimum Access Volume importation plan.
Citing the latest Summary Inflation Report of Consumer Price Index (2018-100), which was released Dec. 6, Panganiban said that the annual inflation increment for sugars, confectionary, and desserts has reached 38 percent.
The Sugarcane Producers’ Federations, composed of NFSP, CONFED and PANAYFED, who represent 50 percent of domestic sugar production, said that based on SRA data, the current refined sugar inventory is higher by 56.66 percent compared to the same period (September 1 to December 11) last year, due to higher refinery output and previous import balances, meaning “there is an adequate supply at this time to meet current needs.”
There is thus, no need for importation, especially during peak milling season, they stressed.
There is no reason why retail prices should remain disproportionately high, when millgate prices have already dropped, the joint statement further said.
They also reiterated their call for the DA, SRA and the Department of Trade and Industry to guard against excessive retail prices, that are not in sync with prevailing millgate prices.
Following an early and brief spike, they said that millgate prices have already dropped by as much as 26 percent, over the last 10 to 11 weeks, from a high of P3,900 per bag, to a low of P2,885.
On the other hand, the also noted that retail prices have not dropped significantly from their high levels of P95 to P105 per kilo, over the same period.
Sadly, producers get the blame, but do not benefit from the excessive retail prices, while consumers and end users suffer when retail prices are unreasonably high, the joint statement ended. (Gilbert Bayoran via The Visayan Daily Star (TVDS), photo courtesy of TVDS)