CONFED warns of sugar industry crisis

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD CITY — The Confederation of Sugar Producers Association Inc. (CONFED) on Thursday, Jan. 8, warned that the Philippine sugar industry is facing a deepening crisis due to falling sugar prices, reduced yields, weak domestic demand and growing financial distress among farmers, millers and sugar workers.

In a letter to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., CONFED President Aurelio Gerardo J. Valderrama Jr. said the situation has left sugar refineries underutilized and workers facing possible job cuts, with labor groups already threatening protests if no immediate action is taken.

Valderrama criticized the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) for delays in implementing solutions, saying the agency has cited the lack of a unified industry position to justify inaction.

He said the SRA’s proposed Sugar Order No. 2, Series of 2025–2026, which includes a “4:1:3” incentive scheme requiring participants to buy four units of domestic sugar, export one and import three, has failed to gain broad stakeholder support and raised unresolved concerns within the industry.

CONFED welcomed the government’s announcement suspending sugar importations until December 2026 and its move to regulate molasses imports, thanking the President, the Department of Agriculture and the Sugar Board for responding to industry concerns.

However, Valderrama said these measures alone are insufficient to stabilize the sector.

“To address the crisis, there must be concrete steps to raise domestic sugar and molasses prices, reduce local sugar inventory and establish a clear and predictable policy environment,” the letter said.

As an alternative to the proposed sugar order, CONFED outlined several measures, including a government-financed buying program that would purchase domestic raw sugar at a minimum of PHP 2,300 per 50-kilogram bag.

The group said the sugar would be refined locally and sold to consumers at lower but still profitable prices, a move it said would support farmers, refiners and consumers without functioning as a subsidy.

CONFED also proposed placing remaining imported refined sugar under reserve classification until market conditions justify its release or tying its release to equivalent domestic purchases on a 1:1 ratio.

Other recommendations include convening the National Biofuel Board to help stabilize the molasses market and crafting a transparent, data-driven sugar importation policy.

The group further urged the creation of a technical working group composed of government and industry representatives to finalize funding sources and implementation details for the proposed buying program.

“The consequences of an unresolved sugar industry crisis are not difficult to imagine,” Valderrama said. “It is time to work together or expire separately.”