CONFED urges swift action as sugar prices plunge

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD CITY — The Confederation of Sugar Producers (CONFED) has sounded the alarm over what it describes as a “perfect storm” in the Philippine sugar industry, as millgate prices fall to four-year lows and early-season losses exceed PHP 4.21 billion.

In an open letter dated Dec. 12, 2025, CONFED President Aurelio Gerardo J. Valderrama Jr. warned that a combination of oversupply, weak domestic demand, and unregulated imports of refined sugar, molasses, and sugar substitutes is pushing the industry toward collapse.

“The entire sugar sector is now facing a direct threat to its survival,” Valderrama said, adding that CONFED has long cautioned against current market conditions, which are now unfolding with alarming speed.

CONFED reported that millgate prices dropped sharply in the first week of milling and have continued to decline amid weak buyer interest.

From late September to November, revenue losses from sugar and molasses totaled PHP 3.89 billion compared to the same period in 2024.

Data from the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) confirmed that total foregone revenues reached PHP 4.21 billion as of Nov. 23.

Most of these losses were borne by producers in Negros Island, the country’s top sugar-producing region.

CONFED earlier projected that if left unaddressed, industry losses could climb to PHP 23.3 billion for Crop Year 2025–2026.

Despite conflicting views between CONFED and the SRA over the causes of the crisis, the group said stakeholders are aligned in recognizing the urgent need for government and industry-wide intervention.

CONFED said it has been in continuous dialogue with the SRA, the Department of Agriculture, traders, millers, and other industry players to identify and implement immediate corrective actions.

However, it noted that consensus on a unified strategy has yet to be reached.

To address the oversupply and help stabilize millgate prices, CONFED proposed several short-term measures, including:

• Exporting 120,000–140,000 metric tons of “A” sugar under the U.S. quota program;
• Implementing a “Buy 4, Export 1” scheme with replenishment import rights;
• Launching a government-subsidized buying program for “B” sugar;
• Imposing a moratorium on all additional imports until the end of the milling season;
• Establishing a government-financed “Purchase and Park” mechanism through the Philippine International Trading Corporation; and
• Providing outright price subsidies of PHP 100–PHP 200 per bag for small-scale producers.

CONFED also said it may seek direct presidential intervention if no consensus is reached soon.

“We must work in concert on urgent as well as long-term solutions,” Valderrama said.

He urged government agencies, political leaders, and industry stakeholders to agree on a coherent, data-driven national sugar policy.

Without decisive action, he warned, the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of farmers and workers who depend on the sugar industry will be further jeopardized.