Chicken prices down by P20/kg

MANILA, Philippines - The price of chicken has gone down by as much as P20 per kilo while bakers decided to delay the P1.75 to P2 per loaf price increase that they announced last month, the government said yesterday.

In two separate interviews, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) said that prices are very stable and that increases are not expected anytime soon.

In spite of the big increases in oil prices, Agriculture Undersecretary Salvador Salacup said there is still no reason for any price adjustment.

“Oil prices is not a reason because it only represents a P0.02 to P0.03 per kilo increase in their costs. At the same time the toll cost is not also a reason to raise the price,” Salacup said in a chance interview at the Board of Investments building.

Salacup said they have already received a request from vegetable retailers that they would like to increase their price citing oil and toll fee hike. However, Salacup said their own study showed that the impact of oil and toll are very minimal per kilo that is why there is no reason to adjust prices.

At the same time, Salacup said the demand for chicken and bangus have started to normalize after the fish kill brouhaha. The price of bangus per kilo is already at P90 to P100, very close to the normal price of P100 to P110. “Consumer confidence is going back,” Salacup said.”

As a result, the price of chicken has gone down as demand normalized. During the peak of the fish kill issue, chicken prices rose up to P145 per kilo but is now down to P125 to P130.

Meanwhile, Trade Undersecretary for Consumer Welfare Zenaida C. Maglaya said bakers decided not to implement the announced June price adjustment after the agency asked bakers to defend their decision to raise the price of loaf bread and pan de sal.

“Our gauge is the supermarkets and they said there were no increases in bread. Because of this, we will no longer be issuing a show cause order against the bakers,” Maglaya said.

Bakers likewise asked the Trade Department to investigate the price of flour. Maglaya said the millers did not say what the correct flour price should be but said that the price should also be reviewed.

There was a big drop in the price of wheat this month when compared to June levels but Maglaya said it is not yet proper to ask millers to rollback flour prices because the price of wheat may increase during the middle of the month.