Prices of bread, noodles to rise by 20 percent

MANILA, Philippines - Prices of bread, cookies and noodles sold in the provinces are seen to rise by 20 percent in July as a result of the provisional duty imposed on imported Turkish flour.

In a press conference yesterday, flour importer Malabon Longlife Trading Corp. president Ernesto Chua said the provisional duties on Turkish flour imports would take effect within the next two weeks.

“Once they implement the imposition, the goods we will be selling will have added costs correspondingly and therefore, the small- and medium-scale cottage industries will increase their price... There is a tendency for small industries to increase price by about 20 percent,” he said.

“Our stocks are still good for a month so by end-June or July, we will sell at a new price,” Chua said.

The price hikes are only expected in the provinces as most bakers in Metro Manila use locally milled flour.

In April, the Department of Agriculture (DA) ordered the imposition of a provisional duty of 35 percent on hard flour used for making bread, 39.26 percent on biscuit bread and 35.21 percent on soft flour used for pastries and cookies, on top of the seven percent regular import duty on flour.

Turkish Flour Yeast and Ingredients (TYFI) Promotion Group expert Avsin Kasikci said the provisional duties vary per company based on the DA’s computation.