Chicken prices to go down

MANILA, Philippines - The price of chicken is expected to go down by five percent next month as supply is expected to increase, a supermarket group said yesterday.

The suggested retail price (SRP) of whole chicken is P130 per kilo. A five percent reduction translates to a discount of P6.50 which brings the price down to P123.50 per kilo.

“We expect the price of whole chicken to go down next month because the chicks will be fully grown and ready for sale,” Federico Ples, secretary general of the Philippine Association of Supermarkets Inc. (PASI) told The STAR in a telephone interview.

According to Ples, there is currently a shortage in the supply of whole chicken. He said in supermarkets, the available chicken are mostly in quarters. In spite of the limited supply, Ples said there is no increase in the price of chicken today.

“Right now they are only delivering very few chickens. It is lacking but they will be harvesting the fully grown chicken by next month,” Ples explained.

He said the chicks that they are growing now will be ready for sale by next month. More supply will drive the price down, Ples said.

He said that the reduction in the price of chicken will be gradual. Ples said the initial decrease is expected to be five percent by mid February. He noted that there will be more downward adjustments because of abundant supply.

Ples said prices are stable in groceries because suppliers are still selling at the same price. “Our acquisition cost has not yet gone up and the cost of production remains the same so there is no reason for prices to go up.”

This is true for all commodities except for sugar and flour products. The price of sugar has been going up. The Sugar Regulatory Authority (SRA) already said that price may go up to as high as P50 per kilo while flour millers said they will be raising their prices by P20 per bag.