“Sugar stock levels have been constant in the past couple of months and claims from certain groups that there is an oversupply of sugar that purportedly caused a drop in sugar prices is laced with malice,” Sugar Regulatory Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said on Monday, Nov. 18.
“Unless it is their goal to announce oversupply to purposely try and lower prices, for reasons they only know,” said Azcona in reaction to the joint statement of the Sugar Council and National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry (NACUSIP) on Sunday.
Azcona decried their presumption that the recent joint announcement made by the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) that no importation will happen until post-harvest was intended to curb the drop in mill gate prices.
“There was no other intention for that announcement other than stand by our mandate to be transparent and keep the stakeholders informed, and the Sugar Council would have known that if they attend stakeholders meetings being called by the DA and SRA instead of propagating lies through the media, to cause separation and instability within the industry,” Azcona said.
“I used to have respect for those so-called sugar leaders, who I thought were my friends since childhood, and I’ve always reiterated that I am a phone call away. However, they would rather bring their concerns before the media to further destabilize the industry, then send a letter after the fact, and that does not sit well with me,” Azcona added.
The announcement of no importation until end of harvest which is sometime May or June depending on harvest circumstances was simply an announcement for our stakeholders, and nothing more, he said.
Their opinion that it was meant to curb prices is their own opinion based on their skewed perception, he said.
“All of the SRA and DA’s plans are discussed in stakeholder meetings led by DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, the last of which was August 6 but just like in other instances, the Sugar Council snubbed this meeting,” Azcona said.
He reiterated that stocks of raw and refined sugar are at the proper levels, maintaining the needed buffers.
“As of Nov. 10, 2024, our production of sugar is down by 61 percent, and we have prepared for this with the proper buffer supply, and as to their claims of over supply for both raw and refined sugar, we are currently 35-37 percent below the levels recorded last year,” Azcona said.
Again, if the so-called Sugar Council wants to be informed of the plans and policies of the sugar industry, they should be attending consultative meetings instead of propagating false claims, he added.
It is also part of SRA’s charter that we have no hand in marketing and pricing of sugar, and this is known to all sugar stakeholders as well, Azcona said.
The Sugar Council and NACUSIP, in response, said they understand the reaction of Azcona.
“However, the question as to why mill gate prices are going down is being asked by ordinary farmers. We need answers. There has to be an explanation,” they said.
Their stand is based on data from the SRA website, so how can we be malicious? they added.
Azcona said an Oct. 20 post on the SRA website states that sugar production was down 73.46 percent, raw stock down 31.2 percent and refined stock down 37 percent.
By Nov.10 production was down 61 percent, raw stock down 35 percent and refined stock down 37 percent, he added.
“There is definitely no oversupply”, Azcona stressed.*