• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Confederation of Sugar Producers Association Incorporated (CONFED) has suggested proposals to improve the prices of sugar and molasses, amid the precipitous drop in prices, reduced yields, and soft demand for the commodity, which has left farmers and millers financially distressed, sugar refineries underutilized, and sugar workers facing the prospects of drastic work reduction.
While it appreciates the government’s announcement to stop all further sugar importation until December 2026, and its earlier plan to regulate molasses imports, CONFED said in a letter addressed to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “This is only part of the solutions we need.”
CONFED said the labor sector is already itching to take to the streets if no action is taken, noting that urgent and concrete solutions are yet to fall in place.
SRA has cited its stakeholders’ lack of a unified stand to justify the delay in instituting needed solutions. The reality, however, is that its proposed Sugar Order (SO) No. 2, Series of 2025-2026, and behind it, a supposed “4:1:3” incentive scheme (buy 4, export 1, and import 3), has not gained support from the majority of stakeholders, many of whom have outrightly rejected it or have formally raised questions that await clear, logical, and convincing answers, CONFED said
On top of the announced “No sugar importation until December 2026,” concrete measures are needed to raise domestic sugar and molasses prices, reduce local sugar inventory, and establish a clear and predictable policy environment to restore confidence in the domestic sugar industry as a major commodity/economic driver, it added.
As an alternative to the proposed SO#2, CONFED suggested a government financed buying program, where domestic raw sugar is purchased at a minimum of P2,300/lkg, to be refined by local refiners, and sold wholesale for the consumer market at profitable, but lower than prevailing prices.
Stressing that it is not a subsidy program, as it will enable the government to recover its “investment,” improve millgate buying prices, reduce retail prices for consumers, and allow local refining operations to recover, CONFED added.
The sugar federation also suggested holding all remaining imported refined sugar not yet reclassified into “B”, until a predefined trigger point provides basis for its release to end-users.
This can help limit the volume of imported sugar available for end-users and improve the market for domestic refined sugar, CONFED said.
As to the molasses program, CONFED proposed the convening of the National Biofuel Board (NBB) to resolve regulatory issues and rationalize/stabilize the molasses market.
With regards to the sugar importation policy, it should be a clear, data-supported, transparent and predictable policy environment that will establish the guidelines for determination of volume, timing and mechanics of future sugar importation programs, CONFED further said.
The details regarding funding requirements, sources and implementing mechanics of the proposed Government-financed sugar buying program are best threshed out by a technical working group tasked to formulate a doable program at the earliest possible time, the group added, stressing also the inclusion of the industry stakeholders in the TWG.
CONFED also pointed out that they will not surrender their fate to the negative consequences of government policy, even if well-intentioned.
We ask government to make room for serious discussion of urgent solutions while a longer-term policy framework is fleshed out. The consequences of a festering and unresolved sugar industry crisis are not difficult to imagine. The fate of an entire industry now rests on the shoulders of government and the industry’s own leaders. It is time to work together or expire separately, the sugar federation further said.*
