Canned sardines up for price increase, says DTI

Prices of canned sardines will likely increase by as much as 6 percent next September due to higher fuel and fish prices, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said Friday. DTI Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya told reporters at a briefing that four of the five manufacturers of sardines are planning to raise prices by P0.25 to P0.30. One sardine brand, however, requested an increase of as much as P0.75, Maglaya said, raising the suggested retail price of sardines to P12.25 to P13.25 each. She did not name the brand. Rising fuel and fish prices is the culprit for the impending increase, she stressed. Fish, for example, which comprises 30 percent of manufacturers' expenses, has risen by as much as 50 percent since March, according to the Trade Department. However, Maglaya belied reports that rising prices of tin plates — a raw material in making sardine cans — are the cause for the increase, noting that tin prices have been going down in the past week. Meanwhile, the DTI said the prices of various agricultural produce were stable over the past weeks, including that of bangus, galunggong, brown sugar, cooking oil, beef brisket, pork liempo and whole chicken. Bread prices, the Trade Department said, are expected to drop in the coming months on the back of declining wheat prices in the world market. —JMT/VS, GMA News