No reason for bread prices to go up – Pafmil

MANILA, Philippines - The prices of Pinoy Pandesal and Pinoy Tasty the country’s low-cost bread products will not go up despite the dumping duty imposed on Turkish flour because these bread of the masses do not use Turkish flour.

Ric M. Pinca, executive director of the Philippine Association of Flour Millers (PAFMIL) issued this statement citing assurances from the Department of Trade and Industry and some local bakery associations that there would be no price increases on these bakery products.

Pinca said that claims made by Turkish flour millers and importers that pandesal prices will go up by 20 percent is speculative and baseless. “They did not even show how they came out with that number.”

“The bulk of bread, noodles and biscuits sold in the country is made from locally milled flour, so any tightness in the supply of flour from Turkey should not result in upward price movements. Even products made from Turkish flour should not see any price increase because the anti-dumping duty would just somehow level its price with local flour,” Pinca pointed out.

The PAFMIL official appealed to Turkish flour importers to refrain from using “scare tactics and disinformation” in trying to convince the Tariff Commission not to make permanent the four-month provisional anti-dumping duty imposed by DA on Turkish flour.

Liberty Flour Mills, Wellington Flour Mills, General Milling Corp., Pilmico Foods Corp., RFM Corp. and Universal Robina Corp. are the members of PAFMIL, which assured that the supply of flour in the country is very stable.

Chamber of Philippine Flour Millers (Champflour) members San Miguel Mills and Philippine Foremost Flour Mills also said they are not raising flour prices while the tariff hearing on Turkish flour is going on.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala had earlier asked bakers to patronize local flour after his department exercised its mandate to stop the dumping of Turkish flour under Republic Act 8752 or the Anti-Dumping Act of 1999.

The bakers, including the Philippine Federation of Bakers’ Association, Inc. (PFBAI) led by its president Chito Chavez, said they are not inclined to raise the price of pandesal and tasty because there are many sources of flour in the market. Pandesal should, thus, remain at P22.50 for a 10-piece pack while tasty should stay at P37 per loaf.

The DA imposed the anti-dumping duty on Turkish flour after determining it is sold cheaper by as much as 39 percent in the Philippines compared to its domestic price in Turkey.