US to buy more sugar

Sugar producers acted surprised but also joyously with the announcement by the United States agriculture department that the country is buying an additional 500,000 metric tons of sugar. One half is for refined and the other, for raw sugar.

Of the 250,000 raw sugar, 37,500 metric tons will go the Philippines as a member of the TRQ countries.

Amid the confusion of the sugar market, caused by the partial loss of bidders, sugar leaders urged their federation presidents not to oppose the additional quota assigned to the Philippines.

Thursday, several mill districts held on to their sugar stocks for lack of bidders or because the bid was too low and were rejected.

In some, notably the Victorias-Manapla-Cadiz (VMACA) cooperative, only some of their raw were gobbled up by traders. Refined sugar had no buyers, said Reynaldo Bantug, national Confed president.

Others actually had no bidders. In the case of one small group, the bids were rejected as being too low.

And most of the producers or their cooperatives scored Industry Secretary Peter Favila for accusing them of selling only to the big traders.

"We have always never turned away any buyer, big or small, when they came to us offering to buy sugar at our expected price," pointed out Raymund Montinola of the Asociacion de Hacienderos of Silay-Sarabia. A similar view was aired by Federico Locsin of the Silay-Saravia Planters Association.

In the BISCOM area, pointed out a small farmer, every bidding day you can find the small buyers parked outside waiting for the small farmers with their minuscule quedans. And they get paid immediately in cash or check, he added.

In short, Favila seems unaware of what is going on in the province.

"Maybe they just want to grab pogi points by their accusations. They should be made aware that not even the small traders get discriminated against," pointed out former Vice Governor Roy Gamboa.

But the main topic of conversation yesterday at the Inaka Restaurant was the latest development - the additional 500,000 metric tons of sugar ordered by the US Department of Agriculture, and the fact that the Philippines can meet the additional quota since it will have the necessary "A" sugar for shipment to the US.

Bobby Sabino, a former SRA official, cited statistics showing that the 10 percent "A" sugar set aside by the SRA means that we still would have enough of the class of sugar to send to the US to comply with our quota commitments.

On the refined sugar, it is expected that the European Union, which has an oversupply of refined beet sugar, may be able to meet the US demand for whites.

But yesterday, that news of the USDA's additional need prompted world sugar prices to climb up to 19.5 cents per pound. Sabino said he expects it to hit 20 cents as soon as word gets around about the additional US need.

Yesterday, SRA issued out Sugar Order No. 6. This is filling up the US additional sugar quota and the granting of a tariff-free privilege of importing refined sugar through a counter-trade arrangement which will swap "A" sugar for the imported sugar on a 1:1 ratio.

Those who will avail of the arrangement, however, will have to pay the SRA processing fee of P30,000 per metric tons as clearance fee, pointed out the sugar order signed by Administrator James Ledesma.

Meanwhile, the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines petitioned the Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board of Region VI to raise sugar wages by P75 per day "regardless of their rates or pay across the board effective this month."

The Nacusip petition was signed by Jun de la Cruz, Anthony Bolauro and Ronaldo Esponilla of the labor group which is affiliated with the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines.

NACUSIP is the umbrella organization of the Congress of Independent Organizations-ALU, the Philippine Agricultural Commercial and Industrial Workers Union.

The petition, among others, argued that the P10 to P15 daily increase from wage order No. RB6-13, Series of 2005 is not sufficient to answer the cost of living and the rapid increases of price of prime commodities and basic services.

It further argued that continuing fuel price increase until today, plus the two percent value added tax, an automatic adjustment in prices of prime commodities, utilities and basic services are adversely affecting the take home pay of workers and their purchasing power.

NACUSIP pointed out that the Consumer Price Index rose to the 2.5 times or more than 200 to 350 percent but wage increased only a little over 110 percent for the same period. In short, the daily minimum wage of the non-agricultural sector rose for the same period from June 1989 to 2005 by a little over 110 to 115 percent while prices of prime commodities and basic services increased by 300 to 360 percent without counting the adverse impact of the 25 VAT starting February 2.

"The difference of 245 to 255 percent represents the purchasing power lost by the workers in the private sector," Nacusip officials contended.

But even without that petition, Confed officials yesterday toyed with the idea of asking their members to share voluntarily with their workers some of their profits from the increased sugar prices.

Nene Trebol said that it is possible for some of the big producers; hence the voluntary nature of the proposal for a 13th month pay in June for sugar workers.

Well, amen to that.*

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