Carla P. Gomez (Visayan Daily Star) | https://goo.gl/6rqwWX
January 25, 2017
Sugar Regulatory Administration head Anna Rosario Paner yesterday said she has issued a new sugar order increasing the allocation for “B” or domestic sugar for crop year 2016-2017.
In Sugar Order 1 A Series of 2016-2017,Paner set the new sugar allocation at 6 percent for “A” or the US Quota Sugar and 94 percent for “B” or Domestic Sugar, an increase by 2 percent.
The domestic sugar market remains the priority market for locally produced sugar, she said.
The new order was issued to maintain a comfortable buffer or carry-over volume of “B” sugar during the end of season and for the start of the crop year for stable supply and prices, she explained.
Sugar Order No. 1 issued in September allocated 92 percent of the country's sugar production for crop year 2016-2017 as “B” and 8 percent as “A”.
“ Under the present circumstances, I believe that the new allocation is reasonable”, Enrique Rojas, National Federation of Sugarcane Planters president, said.
“We started late in our milling and we are experiencing a shortage of manpower for the harvest. These factors affect the pace of production.If actual production deviates from the estimate during the later part of the milling season, we can always change the allocation, as needed,” he added.
Francis dela Rama, Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations president, said “I think she knows what she is doing let us give her a chance. The only thing is we were not consulted, but we still support her decision.”
Manuel Lamata, United Sugar Producers' Federation of the Philippines president, said “I hope the prices won't go down further with this sugar order as it will add to the sugar supply.”*CPG