Philippine Pork price to be cut to P140-P150/kg

By Amy R. Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 06:02:00 10/08/2008
http://business.inquirer.net/money/breakingnews/view/20081008-165218/Pork-price-to-be-cut-to-P140-P150kg

MANILA, Philippines--The hog industry has agreed to slash the prices of pork, particularly of prime cuts, to within a “reference price band” of P140-P150 a kilogram, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said.

Yap said major producers, meat processors, wholesalers and retailers agreed at a meeting with him on the “reference price band” after reaching a consensus on reasonable profit margins.

He said they noted that while the farm gate prices of pork had gone down to a low of P82.25 a kilo, the average retail price of pork still hovered at around P140 a kilo for several reasons, including high trading margins.

The price of pork belly and other prime cuts have reached a high of P170-P180 a kilo in Metro Manila markets, they said.

Yap said, “Our purpose was to find a common ground among all industry players in order to come up with a fair reference price that will be beneficial for producers and traders, on one hand, and consumers, on the other.”

“Pulling down the retail cost of pork items will benefit not only consumers but producers and traders as well because lower market prices will boost consumer demand,” he said.

Hog farmers earlier called on the government to adopt the “suggested retail price,” or SRP, practice of manufacturing companies to ensure that consumers would get the right prices for pork products.

Albert Lim Jr., president of the National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc., said the SRP practice would let the Department of Agriculture post the right prices of pork products outside wet markets “so consumers are aware and can themselves call the attention of the retailers.”

“We have no control over the traders and the retailers, but as consumers we can tell retailers that they should be selling their products at the right price,” Lim said.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Salvador Salacup said plans were underway to link backyard hog growers with meat traders, such as members of the Philippine Association of Meat Processor Inc. and the Meat Importers and Trader Association, to help reduce their production costs.