BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The United Sugar Producers Federation reiterated its strong opposition to the appeal of the Ethanol Producers Association of the Philippines to import molasses.
During the Bioethanol Consultative Board virtual meeting Tuesday, Unifed president Manuel Lamata said this move by EPAP was thumbed down by members of the BCB last month, yet they found ways to raise the issue through the House Committee on Energy, chaired by Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo.
Lamata said he was glad that the BCB stood pat on its decision to oppose importation of molasses, especially at this time when the milling season is about to start.
The position of BCB will be adopted by the Sugar Regulatory Administration and will be submitted to the Department of Energy and to Arroyo.
In their letter to Arroyo, EPAP sought for the reconsideration of the National Biofuel Board to “allow the importation of molasses equivalent to the deficit in the supply volume of locally-produced molasses required for the utilization of the full bioethanol production capacity of the industry.”
However, Nicolas Kramer, Unifed vice president and chief of operations, who represented Lamata at the consultative meeting, said “Practically everyone opposed the importation idea because we have more than 270,000 metric tons of molasses on stock which can be procured by ethanol producers.”
Lamata added, “If you look at last crop year’s data, supply reached 1.3 million metric tons and demand was only at 1.098 million metric tons, so there is no truth to the claim of deficit in supply” of EPAP.
BUY LOCAL
“We are already reeling from the effects of Covid-19 and we need to embrace the thrust of the national government to buy local as our way to help boost the economy, and here is EPAP pushing for importation again,” he said.
“They (EPAP) should support the local industry. If storage is their problem, EPAP should invest in building large storage tanks where they can keep their local molasses during milling season,” Lamata stressed.
He also called on the rest of the BCB and the SRA to remain vigilant even if EPAP has been made aware of the decision of the board as they may find another venue again to lobby for molasses importation.
Members of the BCB include representatives from six sugar federations, EPAP, the Philippine Sugar Millers Association, the Philippine Independent Millers Association, the Philippine Sugar Technologists Association, and the Department of Agriculture.*
