KORONADAL CITY -- Warning of higher pork prices in the Yuletide season, swine producers in Mindanao admitted Thursday that they will find it hard to supply pork products to Luzon.

This developed as retail prices of pork meat in this city, the regional center of Central Mindanao region, have increased starting last week by P10 to P15 per kilo in the wet markets.

"The Manny Pacquiao Blog". Click here for stories and updates on the Filipino boxing champ.

"The demand of Luzon for pork cannot easily be met in as far as we are concerned," said Emilio V. Escobillo Jr., president of the South Cotabato Swine Producers Association.

The piggeries in the Mindanao have not expanded their capacity to meet the sudden tightening of pork meat supply in Luzon brought by the recent calamities, he added, referring to the effects of Tropical Storms Ondoy (international codename: Ketsana) and Pepeng (international codename: Parma).

Escobillo said pork meat situation now facing Luzon was also compounded by the slaughtering of hogs in Luzon farms last year due to diseases, referring to the Ebola Reston virus.

Presently, farm gate prices of live pigs from commercial piggeries in South Cotabato province, which is shipped through the port of General Santos City, now stands at P93 to P94 per kilo, he noted.

In Manila, the prices are pegged at P110 to P114 per kilo, Escobillo added.

"Consumers should brace for higher pork meat prices in the next few weeks going into the [yuletide] holidays," he noted.

Escobillo projected that farm gate price of live hogs in General Santos and neighboring areas would soon breach P100 per kilo, due to tightening of supplies in the rundown to the Yuletide season.

Tight supply of hogs in the local markets here became evident lately after backyard buyers bought live pigs at P75 per kilogram, from P72 per kilogram in previous weeks.

As a result in the wet markets, retail prices of pork meat were adjusted by P10 to 15 per kilogram. Previous prices of pork meat in the wet markets range from P110 to P120 per kilo.

Escobillo expressed doubts whether the planned importation of pork meat would address the situation, pointing out that it will be very expensive to source the supply from abroad.

Reports said the government has given traders and importers until December 15 to bring in as much as 2.5 million kilos of pork meat from abroad.

No company, however, from the United States, Canada and Europe have agreed to export that much product to the Philippines within the specified timeframe.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap said that to remedy the situation in Luzon, Mindanao and the Visayas will be tapped to bridge the pork supply gap.

Early this week, Albert Lim Jr., president of the National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc., said getting pork supplies from Mindanao will not be that cheap.

Lim noted that shipping companies slap P15 per kilogram to pork from Mindanao to Manila.