The United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines (UNIFED) is supporting the planned importation program amounting to 150,000 metric tons of refined sugar proposed by the current Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) board.
UNIFED President Manuel Lamata said he wants to announce his personal support for the 150,000 MT import plan, after three other sugar federations and the millers group recommended the importation of 300,000 MT, similar to what the former SRA board had pushed.
Lamata was referring to last week’s joint statement issued by the Confederation of Sugar Producers, the National Federation of Sugar Planters, PanayFed and the Philippine Sugar Millers Association (PSMA).
“Have these federations converted to being sugar traders? Logic dictates that if the 300,000 MT of imported sugar they are proposing reaches our country by November or December which is the peak of our milling season, for sure millgate prices will collapse,” Lamata said.
“Are these sugar groups still protecting the interests of their planters?” Lamata asked, saying that act alone indicates they are ready to “suppress local prices of planters.”
He also said it is ironic for these federations to extend their hand of support to the new SRA Board yet, “in just a couple of days, they are trying to publicly undermine the new leadership.”
Lamata said he is calling on fellow planters to “join us in UNIFED because we remain a pro-planters federation who will protect your livelihood and interest in the sugar industry.”