The National Federation of Sugarcane Planters yesterday called on the Sugar Regulatory Administration to review its position on the need to continue allocations for “A” sugar.

NFSP president Enrique Rojas wrote SRA Administrator Rafael Coscolluela yesterday and said that “A” sugar sells at prices below production cost and causes losses to planters. He said they subscribe to the “A” sugar allocation because they value their commitment to the United States.

He, however, added that since they have already filled-up the US Quota, SRA should stop allocating for “A” sugar as soon as possible.

Prices of farm inputs, particularly fertilizer, fuel, and spare parts, have skyrocketed lately, Rojas said.

He also said the price increases adversely affected the operations of all planters and there are only a few weeks left in the milling season. Stopping the issuance of “A” sugar quedans will give planters the opportunity to increase the composite price of their sugar and somehow recover some of their losses, he also said.

The thousands of small planters, who comprise 80 percent of sugar producers, will highly appreciate SRA’s prompt and favorable response to this request, he said.

The latest sugar production figures they gathered shows the Philippines has already filled up its allocation for 135,374 metric tons of “A” Sugar (Tariff Rate Quota Sugar for the US) as of March 30, 2008, Rojas said.*

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