BREAD lovers will have to wait for weeks before prices of pandesal goes down because flour millers have yet to sell the cheap wheat from abroad, a trade official said.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Assistant Regional Director Carmelita Usman said price of pandesal bread is still up because the cheap wheat, recently arrived to the country, is yet to be sold.
Moreover, Usman added majority of suppliers and bakers still have a month's flour stock, which was bought at a time when the flour prices were still high.
Since last year until April 2010, records of DTI-Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) on the per 25-kilogram bag price of flour has been pegged to P750, but since last month's decrease in world prices of flour, they have received reports of lowered flour prices with suggested retail prices of as low as P630 to as high as P680 per bag.
Moreover, DTI central office in Manila has issued a provisional order last June 11 refraining flour millers from selling ex-milled flour at a range of P770 to P790 per 25-kilogram bag and reduce it to P630 to P680 during the pendency of the profiteering case.
"Our latest monitoring as of now, prices of flour has been the same in the Cordillera and we have yet to receive a report from our central office regarding the decrease and the new suggested retail price," Usman said.
Usman said what she received were unconfirmed reports of a pending increase in sugar prices, which according to her, would also contribute to the further reduction of bread prices.
The recent move of the Bureau of Trade Regulation and Consumer Protection, let flour millers explain why they did not heed the agency's recent order to lower their prices despite recent slump in prices in the world market.
Usman, meanwhile, said price ranges of pandesal in the city remains at P1.50 in some bakeries while other high-end bakeries sell pandesal at P3 each.
Loaf bread prices also range from P19 to P27 for regular priced bread in groceries and supermarkets in the city.
"Prices of Valley Bread, which is our basis, have been steady in the past three months with a slight difference of only P3 in price per regular sized loaf bread last year," Usman explained.
She added consumers have been wise in spending for bread as some brands have been expensive, which they compare with locally-produced ones, which give them the best value for their money.
On the prices of sugar, Usman said they will come up with an advisory once they receive the new suggested retail prices of basic commodities in the region.
In her data, only construction like cement and steel bars have increased in prices in the past three months mainly due to the onset of the rainy season.