Broiler group seeks suggested retail prices for chicken

A group of broilers urged the Agriculture department on Tuesday to come out with suggested retail prices for chicken to temper price increases. Gregorio A. San Diego, Jr., president of the Union of Broilers and Raiser Association, noted that while the farm-gate price of chicken had dropped to P58 as of Monday from P68 a week ago, retail prices of dressed chicken remained high. This, he said, is turning off consumers who are already cutting down on their expenses. "There is a disconnect in the farm-gate prices and the retail price. Demand is weak so the wet markets are increasing their prices to offset the lackluster demand without realizing that this is driving away consumers," another poultry industry official said in a separate interview. Data from the Bureau of Agriculture Statistics showed that a whole chicken was being sold at P130 as of last Saturday. Prices of whole chicken reached P140 in January despite the continuous drop in farm-gate prices. "Our SRP for whole chicken in the wet market should be only between P110 and P120 per kilogram," San Diego said. Sought for comment, Davinio P. Catbagan, director of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), said the matter was up for the Agriculture department to decide. The hog industry, on the other hand, expects stable supply for the entire year. Zosimo J. de Leon, chairman of the National Federation of Hog Farmers, Inc., said pork prices have remained stable at P180 per kilogram for more than a month now. "The price has remained steady and this is an indication that there is enough supply to match the demand even for peak months like March and April because of the fiestas," de Leon said. Both the hog and poultry industries said they were not affected by the El Niño-induced dry spell, which is why they are not expecting any shortfall in production this year. "Supply [for both poultry and hog] remains steady so we do not have any plan for a special importation. We are adopting a wait-and-see [strategy]," Catbagan said. Attached agencies of Agriculture department expect the country to end the year with a broiler and swine surplus. The agencies expect broiler production to go up by 15 percent to 549 million birds this year. Hog production, meanwhile, is expected to increase by 4.4 percent to 1.95 million metric tons. Assuming that demand will remain steady, the country may end the year with a surplus of 80,000 metric tons of broiler and 73,000 metric tons of pork. — BusinessWorld