The huge drop in millgate sugar prices by an average of P100 per 50-kilogram bag this week is “artificial pricing” that must be stopped, Manuel Lamata, United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED) president, said Friday, Nov. 29.
“Somebody is playing with the market and an immediate intervention to curb the downtrend in sugar prices is very much needed”, Lamata said in a press statement.
“We urge the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to intervene as soon as possible and to unmask the culprits who are playing us,” he said.
UNIFED has suspicions that the “artificial pricing is being caused by traders who want to profit big at the expense of sugar farmers and they should be exposed,” Lamata said.
He said while mill prices are dropping, retail prices remain constant and will probably even hike due to the holidays which means more profit for them.
“I am also rallying the farmers to hold on to their sugar until prices stabilize,” Lamata said, adding that while he knows this is easier said than done especially for small farmers who are dependent on their weekly trade “we may all need to tighten our belts so we will not be abused by these unscrupulous traders.”
Mill prices averaged P2,500 per bag of sugar on Thursday at a time when farmers were hoping that prices would be at P2,800 to make a little profit, he said.
Since the start of the milling season, prices have been erratically dipping and increasing contrary to the supply and demand figures which raised suspicions that somebody is profiting from recent events, he said.
“We need the DA and SRA’s intervention to prop-up sugar prices at a comfortable level to prevent further losses especially now when there is also the issue of sugar purity that has gone down due to the long drought,” Lamata added.
If government will come in and hopefully start buying our sugar, we will only sell directly to government and they can sell directly to the people, eliminating these traders until prices will stabilize, Lamata said.
“We fear that this continued downtrend will have a severe impact on our small farmers which comprise more than 80 percent of the industry producers who are looking forward to a better holiday season especially with the increase in production inputs due to the long drought”, Lamata said.*