The Asociacion de Agricultores de La Carlota y Pontevedra Inc. (AALCPI) has joined the clamor against the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) for its importation order of 200,000 metric tons of sugar.
AALCPI, the biggest non-affiliated sugar planters’ group with over 10,000 members, said that the release of Sugar Order No. 3 on the peak of the milling season “will have a disastrous effect in the sugar industry, particularly among the small sugar producers.”
Roberto Cuenca, AALCPI president, scored in a statement he issued SRA Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica for issuing such an order “without proper consultation with industry stakeholders. We were never informed and yet he knows we are the biggest group in so far as membership is concerned, and mostly of small sugar farmers.”
“He (Serafica) also knows we are in the midst of the milling season and any importation order now will have a ripple effect,” Cuenca said, who is in agreement with other sugar federations that the SRA order was “ill-timed”.
Cuenca also slammed Serafica for justifying that the need to import sugar now is to ensure balance between supply and demand, and to stabilize prices. “He has not even addressed our immediate concern of high cost of farm inputs that we have brought to his attention since last year.”
Sugar producers have been complaining about the soaring costs of industrial fertilizer that have tripled in less than two years, compounded by the rising cost of fuel, both of which are integral to the survival of the industry.
“Administrator Serafica should take time to consult small farmers so he can personally hear their appeal as many could not afford to even replant for the next crop year if this situation continues,” Cuenca said, adding that what is perceived as “high cost of sugar simply off-sets high cost of farm inputs.”
AALCPI is also questioning the volume of importation, adding it is “too big and definitely should not have been granted at this time.”
Cuenca said they were informed that most producers that SRA consulted agreed to an importation order but in tranches of 50,000 metric tons, and implemented by the closing of the milling season.
“Right now, we have enough supply, milling is ongoing so what balancing act between supply and demand is Serafica talking about,” he said, adding that if, indeed, there is a projection that supply will be tight in a few months, “an initial order of 50,000 metric tons as suggested by industry stakeholders would suffice.”/GB
