SRA to determine volume of sugar needed for import

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) is in the process of collating figures from sugar mills to determine the actual volume of sugar that needs to be imported by the end of this month.

President Marcos earlier said he wanted to ensure that the final import volume must be based on the latest supply report with a provision that it should not be more than 150,000 metric tons (MT).

This will include the additional buffer volume of 100,000 MT factoring in the delayed opening of mills to September 2023 instead of August to increase productivity, SRA acting chief Pablo Azcona said in a statement.

He assured sugar industry stakeholders that the SRA will carefully study the supply condition before pegging the final importation figure.

The significant decrease in refined sugar production during this crop year has been attributed, in part, to the shortened operations of sugar refineries.

Azcona said this can be traced back to a shortage of bagasse that fuels the mills. The scarcity in bagasse, in turn, was caused by heavy rainfall, particularly on Negros Island where more than half of the country’s sugar produce is sourced.

The National Federation of Sugarcane Producers said it welcomed the SRA’s efforts to assess supply before coming up with the final volume for importation.

But its president, Enrique Rojas, urged the regulatory agency to involve stakeholders in the evaluation process and share the sugar statistics from which it plans to base its decisions.

As of May 7, Azcona reported that only 11 of 24 sugar mills are still in operation, with many already closed by the end of May due to the fact that they had opened last August. The closure of the Central Azucarera de Don Pedro also affected local supply, he added.

While the actual production in the same period showed 1,760,840 MT, Azcona said they are looking at another 20,000 metric tons from remaining mills that are still in operation, which he added is way below the demand forecast of 2.2 million MT.

For the next milling season, the SRA is also scheduling consultations with various stakeholders to improve productivity toward self-sufficiency.?

‘Absurd’

Yesterday, a farmers group described as “absurd” the position of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin that there was no irregularity in awarding the 440,000 MT sugar to three importers prior to the issuance of Sugar Order No. 6 because it did not require a sugar order in the first place.?

“We find it very absurd and strange and of course we will challenge that later,” SINAG executive director Jayson Cainglet told The STAR.

Under SO 6 issued last February, DA Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban awarded the importation of 440,000 MT of sugar to All Asian Countertrade Inc. (240,000 MT), Edison Lee Marketing (100,000 MT) and S&D SUCDEN Philippines Inc. (100,000 MT).?Panganiban defended his decision, saying he was acting “upon the instructions” of Marcos through Bersamin.

During the hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, the former chief justice said that a sugar order is not needed for the sweetener to be brought into the country.

“If you will implement that, better remove the people at the Bureau of Customs and allow all the entry of imported products regardless if the chickens and pork products have diseases and the rice is infested with pests. It will redound to a policy question… no permit, no clearance is needed,” Cainglet said.

He added that if the reasoning of Bersamin will be followed, regulatory agencies of the DA, like the SRA and the Bureaus of Plant Industry, Animal Industry and Fisheries and Aquatic Resources should all be abolished.