VARIOUS planters groups in the country have slammed the issuance of Sugar Order No. 3 by the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) that allows the importation of 200,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar, especially since it is the peak of the sugar milling season.
Manuel Lamata, president of the United Sugar Producers Federation (Unifed), said it is appalling that the very agency that is supposed to protect them seems determined to kill the industry.
Uinfed is one of the biggest federations of sugar planters in the country.
Lamata said it is “very frustrating for the SRA to make this import order a priority when it has not even addressed our request to urge the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to put a cap on fertilizer cost, which was put forth since last year.”
“They only see the increasing cost of sugar in the market but they do not acknowledge the forces driving those prices up and much of it can be attributed to fertilizers that almost tripled its cost and fuel that has breached the P50 per liter mark,” he said, adding that “if you weigh everything, whatever increase in sugar prices we are seeing in the market, goes to our paying high cost of farm inputs.”
Lamata said they have not been consulted on the matter and while they knew that some planters groups agreed to the importation program, “they thought that the SRA and DA will also give, in exchange, fertilizers subsidies at the very least.”
Released on February 4, 2022, Sugar Order No. 3 provides for the country’s sugar import program for Crop Year 2021 to 2022.
It stated that of the total import volume of 200, 000 MT of refined sugar, half of which shall be standard grade refined sugar and the other 100,000 MT shall be bottlers’ grade refined sugar.
The import program is open and voluntary to industrial users of refined sugar that are duly registered with the SRA as an international sugar trader in good standing for Crop Year 2021 to 2022.
It said an SRA-registered industrial user may use the services of an SRA-registered international sugar trader in good standing for crop year 2021 to 2022.
It also stated that an industrial user that is not registered with the SRA as an international sugar trader for the said crop year must secure the services of an SRA-registered international sugar trader to import the sugar for its account.
This meant that the unregistered industrial user is not eligible to participate in this import program, it added.
The order defines industrial users as confectionaries, biscuits, bread, candles, milk, juice, and food and beverage manufacturers using refined sugar in the manufacture of their finished products in the country and for sale in the domestic market.
“No transfer to another warehouse and no withdrawal of imported C sugar shall be allowed without prior written authority and reclassification to B sugar by the SRA Board,” it added.
For former SRA Board Member lawyer Dino Yulo, who represent the planters, this is “adding insult to injury,” saying that the issuance of the order is “very ill-timed.”
The sugar groups said the SRA justified the sugar order to stabilize rising costs of sugar and expected low productivity in sugar-producing areas that were affected by the recent Typhoon Odette.
Based on the order, the wholesale price of raw sugar in the National Capital Region (NCR) went up to P2,000 per 50-kilogram bag while that of refined sugar is P2,900 per 50-kilogram bag as of January 23, 2022.
“Both are historic highs,” the order stated, adding that the prevailing retail price of raw sugar at certain public markets in NCR is P48 per kilogram while refined sugar costs P57 to P60 per kilogram, which are higher than the suggested retail prices for raw and refined sugar, respectively.
Yulo, however, said that it is ironic that while the clamor for high price of sugar comes from small vendors, “the one that will clearly benefit in this importation are industrial users, especially bottling companies that have been provided half of the import quota.”
While the SRA claims that this is based on projection from industry stakeholders that there will be a shortage of sugar due to low production in sugar lands, especially in Negros that was severely devastated by Typhoon Odette and which accounts for more than half of the country’s total production, the import volume is way too much and not at this time when sugar milling is at its peak, Yulo said.
“We are still in a midst of a crisis, and our sugar planters in southern Negros are still trying to recover from the effects of Odette, and here is another crisis that will hit us,” he added.
They hope that the SRA will reconsider and amend the order “until they get a good picture from the ground as to what quantity is just needed to ensure that the industry is protected.”
Unifed, moreover, is asking for the resignation of SRA Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica in connection with the recent issuance of the sugar order.
“There seems to be a midnight deal between the SRA, DA and a giant bottling company to be given this preferential treatment,” the federation’s president said, adding that in due time, “we will reveal and boycott that beverage company.”
“It is appalling that there is a giant bottling company who will gain much from this importation program to avoid buying from the local industry. They’ve been at this before and we are not surprised that they are at it again,” Lamata said.
He added that, “we are appealing once again to President Rodrigo Duterte to help us and fire SRA Administrator Serafica as it seems he is working for the benefit of others instead of us.”
Serafica cannot be reached for comment as of Sunday.
Lamata said all prices of commodities have risen such as rice, corn, fish and bread. “These are staples we buy and use as well, so why target the sugar industry only?”
He said that there has been a clamor against high cost of retail sugar that has been affecting the small sugar-using vendors, “but ironically this importation order does not even address that complaint as this is strictly for industrial users. So what gives?”
“It is clear that the lobby by small vendors against high sugar prices was a ploy to accommodate this particular bottling company,” the sugar leader said.
“Mr. President, we are once again appealing that you help us and put a stop to these machinations by the SRA and DA. They are supposed to protect industry stakeholders but all these moves point to one thing, they are determined to kill the industry,” he added.
The National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP) also expressed its objection and requested the SRA to reconsider its decision in what the federation deems as “excessive importation” of sugar.
In his letter to Serafica, NFSP President Enrique Rojas stated that the importation far exceeds the projected production shortfall for Crop Year 2021 to 2022.
Rojas asked the SRA to amend the sugar order and reduce the allowable volume of importation.
“We hope that your good office will seriously consider our recommendation to prevent the drop in millgate sugar prices, which will be disastrous to our thousands of small farmers, who are already devastated by the unabated increases in the prices of fertilizers, fuel and other farm inputs,” he stressed.
Under Sugar Order No. 3, the total projected production for the current crop year, as of January 2022, was reduced to only 2.072 million tons, from the previous production estimate of 2.099 million tons, the group cited.
The 27,000 metric tons estimated decrease in production was attributed to damage caused by Typhoon Odette to sugar-producing provinces in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Moreover, sugar refiners reduced their production forecast to only 16.748 million LKG (50-kilogram bags), from the previous estimate of 17.572 million LKG, or an estimated decrease of 0.824 million LKG or 41,200 metric tons, it said.
NFSP pointed out that the 200,000 MT importation allowed by the SRA under Sugar Order No. 3 is far beyond the total projected shortage of only 68,200 MT, with a glaring difference of 131,820 MT.
“In view of these, we are recommending that the importation be amended to not more than 70,000 metric tons,” Rojas said.
NFSP reiterated its previous letter dated January 24, 2022, where the federation mentioned that, “if the production figures truly justify importation, then the importation should be only on limited volume, based on projected shortage.”
“It should arrive at the end of milling, so as not to affect present millgate prices, and with transparent accounting of the disposal of the imported sugar,” it added.