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Sugar Council lauds Azcona for program to benefit farmers

“Administrator Azcona’s program and the consultation he conducted translate to something positive for the sugar industry,” the Sugar Council said.*Ronnie Baldonado photo.

The Sugar Council praised Sugar Regulatory Administrator Pablo Luis S. Azcona on Tuesday, Jan. 21, for coming up with a program which benefits sugar farmers and for conducting a consultation with all industry stakeholders.

“We laud Administrator Azcona for crafting a program which will protect us from price fluctuations during the peak of the harvest, for discussing with all stakeholders the proposed program, and for reiterating that there will be no importation until May or June when the harvest is finished,” the Sugar Council said in a press release.

The Sugar Council is composed of the Confederation of Sugar Producers Association headed by Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama Jr., the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters led by Enrique Rojas, and the Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers headed by Danilo Abelita.

The group was referring to the consultation conducted by Azcona at the SRA Bacolod Office on Tuesday on the draft sugar order titled “Voluntary Purchase of Crop Year 2024-2025 Locally Produced Sugar for Reclassification to Reserve Sugar to Avail of Allocation for Future Import Program”.

The program allows the purchase by SRA registered traders, including planters’ groups, associations and cooperatives, of a maximum of 300,000 metric tons of solely the planters share of locally produced sugar for Crop Year 2024-2025, on a “first come, first served” basis, in exchange for allocation for rights to future importation, the Sugar Council press release said.

Sugar purchased under the program will be classified as “C” or “reserve” sugar for a period of not more than ninety (90) days, it said.

The move aims to reduce the volume of available sugar in the domestic market during peak harvest months and thus help stabilize millgate sugar prices, it added.

“Administrator Azcona’s program and the consultation he conducted translate to something positive for the sugar industry. We look forward to a brighter future for sugar farmers, and a more fruitful collaboration with Administrator Azcona in the future,” the Sugar Council said.*

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