Wednesday, August 06, 2008 DTI monitoring: Flour prices up, but pandesal remains at P3 each
THE price of flour went up by P10 this week, making it the only product whose price increased during the period.
But the same weekly price monitoring report by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Cebu Provincial Office showed that the price of pandesal, a breakfast staple of many Filipino households, remained the same at P3 for a 20-gram piece.
“This could be attributed to market forces,” said Zaide Bation, division chief of DTI’s Trade and Industry Regulatory Division.
She added that the price increase is still considered “negligible.”
Last week, the price of a sack of flour that contains 25 kilos was P940, compared to P970 in July. This week, though, a sack of flour is priced at P950.
The report was based on a survey conducted in 13 wet market outlets and a total of 24 supermarkets and groceries.
Sun.Star Cebu tried to get General Milling Corp. (GMC) to comment on the increase in flour prices but GMC personnel declined to issue a statement.
GMC is considered as the one of the biggest flour manufacturers in the country.
The DTI price monitoring report noted, though, that the prices of loaf bread have increased as flour has become more costly.
Loaf bread at 410 grams is now at P30 from P28 a week ago. A 500-gram loaf of bread is now priced at P40, higher by P3.50 from in a week’s prices.
Meanwhile, the price steel bars have decreased. The price of a 10-millimeter (mm) steel bar is reported to be P209 this week from P215 last week. The price of a 12-mm steel bar dropped to P302 from P311 a week ago.
Prices of all other basic necessities and commodities are said to be stable, Bation said.
The DTI assured the public that the Local Price Coordinating Council in Cebu City (LPCC) is “vigilant” in monitoring the prices of goods in the city.
Bation said the Cebu City Government has one of the most active LPCCs in the province.
Under its program, members of the LPCC—together with the DTI—visited a manufacturing company last week to get a “better understanding” of the commodity flow. Bation said activities like this will help the DTI and the LPCC to determine the different product profiles and major inputs that affect prices.
Although it is not mandatory, the DTI also hopes that local government units can update their respective price monitoring boards to better serve the public. The price monitoring board in Cebu City is installed near the Plaza Independencia at M.J. Cuenco Avenue. (DME)
