“We urge the national government’s immediate intervention to stop the decline in sugar prices afflicting our farmers,” Enrique D. Rojas, president of the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP), said Wednesday, Dec. 13.
Rojas was reacting to Wednesday’s trading price of sugar, which was reported at P2,502.88 per 50-kilo bag.
The P2,502.88 per bag was the result of the bidding at the Hawaiian-Philippine Company sugar mill, which conducts its bidding every Wednesday, he said in a press release.
Other mills hold their respective bidding every Thursday, and their bid prices often reflect a price slightly lower than Hawaiian’s bid price.
“For the past several weeks, our sugar farmers have been suffering from price levels of P2,500 per bag, which is not commensurate to the financial resources, hard work and risks that farmers invest into their farms. Millgate sugar prices should be at the P3,000-P3,500 level to reflect current retail prices of P85 to P100 per kilo”, Rojas added.
Rojas cited the almost 70 percent to 30 percent ratio in the withdrawal of imported sugar over locally refined sugar, as reflected in the Sugar Regulatory Administration’s sugar production and withdrawals reports for Crop Year 2023-2024.
“Government should properly manage the sugar supply and demand situation, giving preference to locally produced sugar. We strongly recommend that local sugar should be given first priority in the market, before allowing the withdrawal of imported sugar, which was intended originally to fill last crop year’s deficit and act as reserve for this crop year,” Rojas said.*