MANILA, Philippines - From a seemingly endless price increases in the past two months, consumers are now assured of a respite as prices of basic goods are stabilizing including flour, cooking oil, milk and sugar.
"We are getting more good news and good news," Trade and Industry secretary Zenaida C. Maglaya announced at a press conference following the meeting of the National Price Coordinating Council.
Prices of sugar are expected to go down to P52 to P54 a kilo in the next two weeks from the current P58 a kilo as ex-mill price of sugar is now down to P1,800 a bag marking the peak of the sugar milling season.
DTI secretary Gregory L. Domingo, who chaired the NPCC meeting but left earlier, told reporters the council has decided not to impose anymore a suggested retail price for sugar as well as the importation of sugar because the Sugar Regulatory Authority's new estimate showed that demand would be lower at 1.75 million metric tons from 2.1 MMT last year for various reasons. Production, however, is slightly lower at 1.9 MMT from 1.95 MMT last year.
"But we asked the SRA to closely monitor especially the consumption side, so we can decide on importation if necessary," Domingo said.
On cooking oil, Jesus Arranza, president of the Coconut Oil Refiners Association, told reporters that prices of copra have gone down to P55 to P53 per kilo from an all-time high of P65 and this is expected to translate to corresponding lower prices of cooking oil.
From a high of over P100 per kilo of edible oil in the dip market (takal), prices have gone down to P85 a kilo. Prices of long neck (P78 to P80), which have a slow turnover compared to the dip market, are expected to go down by P10 per bottle. Palm oil, which is competing against coconut oil, should be 20 percent cheaper.
"We will see further decreases in prices of cooking oil in April and May as more production comes in," Arranza said.
The good harvest of coconuts because of good weather is expected to further dampen prices of copra to a projected P42 per kilo from a high of P65 early this year. The price of copra last year stood only at P28 a kilo.
"At P40 a kilo, coconut farmers are still happy," he said.
On flour, Ric Pinca, executive director of the Philippine Association of Flour Millers Inc., said that locally-milled flour is now selling at a range of P850 to P900 per 25 kilogram bag.
Pinca said the situation in Japan and the Middle East has dampened prices of wheat in the world market. Japan is the world's second biggest importer of wheat.
With the Japan situation, its importation of wheat and consumption of flour-based products are also expected to slowdown.
From a reference rate of $10 per bushel, the price of wheat is now down to $8.56 per bushel. The current price of wheat, however, is still 80 percent higher than the price in June 2010.
The decline in prices of wheat in the world market is expected to be felt in the market in the next three months, Pinca said.
"Hopefully, we can all breath freely in the next three months. Millers cannot also raise prices because stiff competition has a way of evening things out," Pinca said.
