Overstocking leaves sugar planters at the losing end

The influx of cheap imported sugar in the market is hurting the livelihood of local farmers in Negros Occidental, the country's top producing province of the sweetener.

Thus, local farmers are calling on the government regulators to recalibrate their importation program and augment support to planters instead.

In an interview with reporters, VIMACA Farmers Association Regional Manager and Corporate Secretary Atty. John Pedrosa said importing sugar, while beneficial to the consumers, should follow a well-thought-out plan so it will not depress farm gate prices.

"Right now, at the start of milling season, there were about 10 million bags of refined sugar with an additional 2 million coming in.

You can just imagine how it is going to affect the prices because there is an over-importation of refined sugar and it has also affected the cost of the raw sugar supply," Pedrosa said.

For instance, Pedrosa explained that imported refined sugar last week were sold at P3,160 per 50-kilogram bag, way below the supposed farmgate price of P3,454 per bag.

"We should need to calibrate the importation that we need to do so that there will be no overstocking of supply," he added.

Meanwhile, David Andrew Sanson, Farmers' representative at the Sugar Regulatory Administration or SRA, also conveyed that imported sugar should only cover the supply gap and buffer stock—nothing more.

"Usually the right time to import is after the milling season because we cannot supply the overall consumption. If we produce 1.8 million metric tons, the consumption is 2.2 million," Sanson said.

"The importation should only cover the gap and a enough buffer of about 200,000 to 300,000 metric tons," he explained.

As per Resolution No. 2023-159 dated 26 September 2023, the sugar regulator withheld 150,000 MT of imported sugar.

This means that all imported sugar under the Sugar Order or SO No. 7 series of 2022-2023 should be allocated for buffer stock.

SRA administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said the move serves as a mechanism to stop middlemen and traders from unreasonably profiteering at the expense of the consumers.

Importers were supposed to have until 15 October to allocate their stocks but the new SRA Resolution lifted such deadline "until further notice."