Sugar producers in the Philippines are questioning Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) that how it decided to import 150,000 tonnes of sugar, as embodied in the draft Sugar Order No. 2 (SO2) which the agency intends to issue at the start of the upcoming crop year.
The producers have sent a letter to SRA Acting Administrator David John Thaddeus Alba in which they have said, “We would appreciate it if the SRA provides us details about how it has arrived at the figure of 150,000 MT sugar.”
The sugar producers are representing the Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers (Panayfed), the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP) and the Confederation of Sugarcane Producers Association (Confed). Enrique Rojas, president of NFSP, Raymond Montinola, Confed president and Danilo Abelita, president of Panayfed signed the letter.
The producers had earlier demanded to import 300,000 MT of sugar as per the demand and supply situation with immediate importation of 150,000 MT and the remaining quantity at a later stage.
The sugar produced in the next season will not be sufficient to cater for the domestic need and there is a need for buffer stock to meet the demand, they said.
