Bread prices to go up today

MANILA, Philippines - Bread prices are expected to go up by as much as P2 today as sugar costs continue to rise, bakers said.

The Philippine Baking Industry Group (Philbaking) said there might be other increases in the future because flour prices are also seen to rise.

Philbaking president Walter Co said the price of loaf bread is increasing by P2 while the price of a 10-pack pandesal is increasing by P1.

Co said bakers should have raised prices three months ago because of the spike in sugar prices. Sugar now costs between P48.00 to P50.00 per kilo.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has asked bread makers to stave off price increases while it tries to bring down sugar prices to P43 per kilo.

Co said, however, that the strategy is not enough to stop bakers from raising prices.

He said they have already informed DTI of the price hike but have not told them how much.

“We are not a charitable institution. We have bills and employees to pay,” he said.

Neighborhood bakeries to follow

Philippine Federation of Bakers Association (PFBA) president Chito Chavez said small bakeries are also likely to increase the prices of their products once flour price surges.

He also said that while sugar is not the biggest component of bread, it makes up 20 percent of the product.

The government is trying to lower sugar prices by importing 150,000 metric tons of sugar, which will come in between May and August.

The imported sugar will be exempt from paying the 40 percent tariff but is subjected to the value added tax (VAT).

Private sector importers are expected to pay P2.00 to P3.00 per kilo.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the government will determine the retail price of the imported sugar once the first batch comes in.

For locally milled sugar, Yap said the government will not come up with a new suggested retail price that is too low because it will kill the industry.

He said, however, that millgate price should be P1,800. The current millgate price is P1,900 per 50-kilo bag of raw sugar.