Enough pork supply through holidays – hog farmers

MANILA, Philippines — There is enough pork supply in the country until the end of the holiday season, the National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. (NFHFI) assured the public on Thursday.

In a radio interview, NFHFI president Chester Warren Tan said there is no reason for the retail price of pork to increase.

“Our supply is enough this December. As a matter of fact, the demand is still low as the purchasing power of the consumers is also down. They are trying not to spend. As a result, the supply is high compared to the demand so that supply (of pork) will not be a problem this year,” Tan said.

He said that despite the lower farmgate prices – ranging from P180 to P190 per kilo – the retail price of pork remains high at P350 to P380 per kilo.

Tan likewise noted that while there is ample supply of locally produced pork, the Department of Agriculture (DA) continues to allow the flooding of imported meat products.

He said that local hog raisers are more equipped in addressing the outbreak of African swine fever (ASF).

“Unlike three years ago, our fellow hog raisers were able to manage (the ASF outbreak). They know how to handle unlike before when almost all the pigs were wiped out. The strain is more manageable,” Tan added.

At the same time, he criticized the decision of the government to extend the lower tariff on pork, rice and corn.

“The morale of the hog raisers is low because of this. What we are saying is for the last two years after the lowering of tariff, we did not see the retail price of (imported pork) to go down to P250 (per kilo). Even at the grocery, you cannot buy P300 (per kilo), they only follow the price of local (pork),” Tan said.

Tan added that lower tariff on imported agriculture products also resulted in the P4 billion revenue losses to the government.

“It was not beneficial to the government and the consumers,” he said.

Based on monitoring of the DA in Metro Manila markets, the retail price of pork ham ranged between P265 and P360 per kilo and pork liempo, between P295 and P400 per kilo.

“Honestly, we don’t feel that we are being favored compared to the importers. For the past two years, when the live weight reached as high as P240 (per kilo) and the retail price reached P450 (per kilo) during the last administration, we tried to maintain our farmgate price below P200. The problem is the (the government) did not return the tariff. We may be forced to increase as we don’t see support from the government,” Tan said.