Flour millers assure public prices will be stable for now

Despite fluctuations in the world prices of wheat, Philippine flour millers assured the public they will try to keep prices of flour stable for as long as the can. Philippine Association of Flour Millers (PAFMIL) executive director Ric Pinca said they hope to keep factory prices of flour at less than P900 a sack. “We will hold on to present prices hanggang kaya namin. Sa planta, less than P900 per sack ang presyo," he said in an interview on dzBB radio. Besides, he said that if prices go up too soon “walang bibili ng flour, so miller will suffer from poor sales," he said. At present, he said prices of wheat had doubled from a year ago, from $4.48 a bushel [or equivalent to 35.2 liters] last year to more than $10 a bushel now. Flour prices now are also 20 percent higher than the same period last year, he added. Pinca also said present world prices of wheat also affect other countries and not just the Philippines. “Hindi mo makita ang direksyon, talagang erratic ang prices. Dapat bumaba na pero tumaas pa rin; kung hindi mo inaasahan na bababa, bumababa naman," he said. — LBG, GMA News