Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 21)— The country has enough supply of flour, but prices are not likely to go down anytime soon, according to an industry group.
In a media forum on Tuesday, the Philippine Association of Flour Millers said the country imports its entire supply of wheat – the raw ingredient for flour.
The price of wheat per bushel in the world market has almost doubled over the past year, the group said, mainly because of the war between Russia and Ukraine. The two countries supplied more than a quarter of the world’s wheat.
The export ban being implemented by India and the drought in wheat-growing countries like the US are also pushing prices up, the group added.
“We just need to survive the times,” Ric Pinca, president of the Philippine Association of Flour Millers, said in a forum at the Kamuning Bakery in Quezon City.
“Some political interventions might happen and we hope will happen to stop all these bombings and so on and allow this wheat to get out of the port (in Ukraine),” he added.
Wheat is imported at zero tariffs. It thrives in dry and cold weather, Pinca explained, recalling failed efforts to farm wheat in the Philippines in the 1980s due to typhoons.
The group assured that the 23 flour millers in the country will continue operations while keeping price increases at a reasonable rate.
“Only the prices will change but we will not run out of flour,” Pinca said.
The ex-mill price of flour is now about ₱1,000 per bag of 25 kilograms. “It was for the longest time around P860,” Pinca said.
One way to help bakeries, the group said, is to reduce tariffs on other ingredients for bread, including yeast, sugar, and salt.
It also welcomed President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr’s decision to take over as agriculture chief, saying it will eliminate bureaucracy as the country responds to the looming food crisis.
