March 3, 2004

 

 

Philippines To Import Pork On Heavy Demand

 

Meat traders and processors in the Philippines have signaled their intention to import 5,000 metric tons of pork to stabilize market prices and make up for the shortfall in local hog production.

 

During an industry meeting, participants agreed to import pork on the condition that the Tariff Commission slashes duties to 15 percent.

 

Samuel Señoren, trade representative of meat dealers and processors who plan to import, said the source of imports has become a problem.

 

"We have two traditional sources of pork. We could either source it from Korea or Europe. However, Japan has already contracted all of Korea's pork," he said. "Even if we get to source from Korea, prices have proved prohibitive. Yesterday, we were given a quotation of $2.30 per kilo. We hope to get a better deal from Europe at $1.60 per kilo."

 

Señoren said the government has given the industry until March 31 to place orders in order for the shipments to arrive before May 31.

 

The government has limited port imports within the MAV mechanism, saying most companies have yet to fully use their quota.

 

Out of the 53,000 mt quota for the year, only about 22,000 mt have been subscribed by importers and only 1,075 mt have been actually used.

 

Francisco Buencamino, executive director of the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (Pampi), said more companies are now getting their requirement from local hog farmers, adding pressure to an already tight supply.

 

"We've been doing this to appease the livestock sector who, during the past, complained that they do not have enough markets for their products. Also, since the exchange rate has gone up in favor of the US dollar, we deem it a sound decision to source most of our requirements locally," he said.

 

He said supply tightened up after hog raisers cut down on production.

 

"Raisers opted to voluntarily reduce production as feeds became more and more expensive. Plus the fact that more consumers decided to shift from chicken to pork due to the ongoing bird flu scare," Buencamino said.

 

"The only solution we see to bring down the prices of pork is to flood the market with imports. This, until the industry starts to recover and smarten up to produce more hogs for local consumption," he added.

 

Pork prices have risen to P150 per kilo from P120 to P130.