By Dolly Yasa
BACOLOD CITY – Enrique D. Rojas, president of the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP), commended Sugar Regulatory Administrator Pablo Luis S. Azcona for allocating the country’s projected sugar production for Crop Year 2024-2025 entirely to the domestic market.
“With the expected shortfall in domestic sugar production versus estimated demand, it is a good move by the Sugar Regulatory Administration to allocate all domestic sugar production as ‘B’ sugar for the domestic market,” Rojas said in a press statement Wednesday.
Rojas referred to Sugar Order No. 1, Series of 2024-2025, issued by the SRA on September 9, 2024.
The sugar order was approved by Agriculture Secretary and concurrent SRA Board Chair Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., and signed by Usec Roger V. Navarro as Alternate Ex-Officio Chair, Azcona as SRA Administrator and CEO, and SRA Board Members Ma. Mitzi V. Mangwag (Millers’ Representative) and David Andrew L. Sanson (Planters’ Representative).
Under Sugar Order No. 1, the SRA projects total raw sugar production for Crop Year 2024-2025 at 1.78 million metric tons, “due to the anticipated negative effect of the prolonged El Niño phenomenon; unless the La Niña phenomenon brings an increase in production.”
Total domestic raw sugar withdrawal for the same period is estimated at 2.2 million metric tons, implying a shortfall of more than 400,000 metric tons between projected production and demand.
In line with its mandate to “establish and maintain a balanced relationship between sugar production and requirements, and to maintain marketing conditions ensuring stabilized prices reasonably profitable for producers and fair to consumers,” the SRA declared that all domestic sugar production would be classified as “B” sugar, designated for the domestic market.
The SRA classifies domestic sugar production at the start of each crop year, based on volume and market demand, to ensure fair pricing for producers and consumers.
Sugar is typically categorized as “A” for export to the United States, “B” for the domestic market, “C” as reserve sugar to be reclassified later, and “D” for export to the world market.
“Our federation appreciates this move by the SRA to allocate all domestic production to the domestic market, which traditionally brings a more favorable price for producers compared to other sugar classifications. We are hopeful that weather conditions for the rest of the crop year will allow us to recover from the projected production shortfall,” Rojas added.
