Sugar industry leaders are still against exporting domestic sugar this crop year despite the Philippines receiving an additional 9,151 metric tons of raw sugar export quota from the United States for fiscal year 2027, bringing its total to 154,386 metric tons.
This allocation is part of the 1.12 million metric tons under the US tariff-rate quota (TRQ) system for fiscal year 2027, which runs from Oct. 1, 2026, to Sept. 30, 2027. The Philippines holds the second-largest export quota share from Washington, after the Dominican Republic.
The Sugar Board in October approved Sugar Order No. 1, classifying 100 percent of the Philippines’ sugar production for Crop Year 2026–2027 as “B” or Domestic Market, Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona of the Sugar Regulatory Administration pointed out on Wednesday, Nov. 4.
The allocation was in accordance with a consensus reached during a stakeholders’ consultative meeting in October, he said.
Azcona said they informed the US Department of Agriculture that they will give them an answer regarding the US quota in November after the October production figures come in. They will first have to see if the country will have adequate supply and consult with stakeholders, he added.
Sugar industry leaders on Wednesday maintained their position against exporting Philippine sugar this crop year.
“Our estimated production this crop year is not even enough for our projected demand. During the meeting of industry stakeholders last month, the planters federations, millers, refiners, and traders all agreed that 100 percent of this crop year’s production should be allocated to the domestic market. There is no compelling reason to revise this allocation,” said Enrique Rojas, president of the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters.
“As soon as we stabilize our production and millgate prices, we can discuss the possibility of shipping sugar to the US market,” he added.
Manuel Lamata, president of the United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines, said he believes the Philippine government could write to the USDA to explain what the country’s sugar industry has been through, having been hit by red-stripe soft scale insects and foul weather that are causing a drop in production this crop year.
“I think they won’t pressure the government to fill the quota,” he said.
Aurelio Gerardo Javellana Valderrama Jr., president of the Confederation of Sugarcane Planters Associations, said: “CONFED’s position is clear. We oppose exporting any Philippine sugar this crop year. With domestic production projected to be lower, our priority is to meet our own needs.
“If we leave the U.S. quota unused, the volume can be reallocated to other suppliers for that year. There is no automatic penalty or permanent cut to our allocation,” he said.
“Why ship our own sugar abroad at a price that could leave our planters earning less, only to import sugar to replace it? We cannot justify that to the Filipino farmer or consumer,” Valderrama said.*
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