January 28, 2008

Philippines sees pork price hikes on low supply

Philippines' capital, Metro Manila, is seeing a surge in pork prices due to a fall in supply from other provinces.

Agriculture secretary, Arthur Yap, said on Friday that pork prices have gone as high as PHP155 per kilogramme (US$3.79) compared to the expected range ofPHP130 (US$3.18) to PHP140 (US$3.42).

The shortfall of supply was partly blamed on shipment problems from General Santos city, a major supplier of pigs bound to Manila.

Yap reported that another group of swine producers already pledged to meet the demand in the next three months.

Aside from unanticipated freight problems, vendors also cited increasing feed costs to have contributed to the increase not only of pork but also of beef and chicken prices in the country.

However, Yap allayed fears of meat shortage in the Philippines, as the government already enlisted the largest of livestock producers to meet the strong domestic demand.