BY ADRIAN P. NEMES III
The United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines is urging the Sugar Regulatory Administration to convert the remaining unshipped “A” sugar intended for the United States to “B” for local consumption.
This is because the SRA has already suspended the shipment of “A” sugar, Manuel Lamata, Unifed president said, adding that the differentials should be given back to the sugar planters and farmers.
Currently, “A” sugar or those intended for U.S. shipment, is sold at P1,200 per 50-kilo bag while B sugar, or those for local markets, costs P1,700.
Lamata said their group already submitted the letter of appeal regarding the conversion of “A” to the SRA, and asked for the support of other sugar planter groups in the country.
Unifed, Confed, and the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters were among the groups that had earlier expressed support for a call to terminate the existing seven-percent sugar allocation for the U.S.
The SRA has issued a new sugar order, effective April 4, that would allocate the country’s entire sugar production to the domestic market and would forgo the volume intended to be exported to the United States. SRA Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica said in a statement that the new SO amends the existing sugar allocations to ensure that local supply will not be compromised by exports.*