Daniel González Delgadillo
La Jornada newspaper
Monday, August 18, 2025, p. 11
Given the fall in sugar prices, inflation in production costs and unfair competition, Carlos Blackaller Ayala, president of the National Cañeros Union of the National Confederation of Rural Owners, called the Federal Government to integrate special programs to this sector to promote their reactivation and economic protection for the benefit of producers.
The Cañero leader said in an interview that the immediate attention proposal must establish the requirement of permission prior to sugar imports, adjust tariffs on internation of raw sugar to 720 dollars, establish the clarifications and complementary definitions to tariff rates that prevent the product identified as food mixture and strengthen customs and ports to eradicate smuggling.
Blackaller projected that, if the necessary measures were not applied, the reference price would fall to 14 thousand pesos per ton of sugar for the next 2025-2026 cycle, with a payment above eight pesos per kilo, “which would leave producers out of profitability.”
Currently, he said, the referential price must be around 19 thousand to 20 thousand pesos per ton, and between 11 pesos and 11 pesos with 40 cents for each kilo to the producers.
He explained that at the close of the 2024-2025 cycle, the price was 16 thousand pesos per ton of sugar, and nine pesos were paid with 10 cents the kilo to the cane, he said. For the 2023-2024 harvest, the reference price was 21 thousand pesos per metric ton, recalled, and was paid to 12 pesos with 20 cents per kilo to the producers.
He said that this Monday will hold a second face -to -face meeting with representatives of the Secretariats of Agriculture, Economics and Finance and Public Credit to address this scenario.
He pointed out that the authorities should also consider the traceability of imported sugar used by IMMEX companies and the commercial imbalance that generates the internment of fructose. In addition to this, he added, negative campaigns against sugar related to health problems and nutritional labeling follow.
He estimated that with the rains, the production of the 2025-2026 cycle would be 45 to 46 million tons of cane and 5 million 2 thousand tons of sugar. This will cause a surplus of 300 to 500 thousand tons of the sweetener, which would go to the international market, where prices could be lower, he said.
