Trade and Industry Secretary Peter B. Favila assured bakers that there is enough supply of flour in the market, thus, ensuring sufficient bread for consumers.
In a meeting with the Trade Chief, the Philippine Association of Flour Millers (PAFMIL) reported that there is enough supply of wheat and flour for the year.
Presently, PAFMIL has an inventory around 900 million metric tons of wheat and 1 million metric of flour in the country, which adds to around10 million metric tons of flour, PAFMIL Executive Director Ric Pinca said. “This inventory is even bigger that last year which stood at 8 million metric tons.”
In addition, PAFMIL expects a steady supply of wheat up to May next year. “We have committed booked shipments from the United States. We are not going to run out of wheat”
The Philippines yearly book shipments are from June to May 31 each year.
There is another reason to be optimistic as industry leaders are expecting a bountiful harvest of wheat worldwide this year.
Richard White, president of Manildra - a flour importer from Australia, is optimistic that international wheat prices will go down September this year.
For the meantime, Ric Pinca said we have to contend with the price adjustments that are happening worldwide.
In has been reported that international wheat prices have gone up in past few years due to the lean harvest in 2006 and the upsurge in wheat demand.
In the spring of 2006, a drought in the US Plains resulted in the short wheat crop. This was followed by harsh drought that cut Australian production. The wet fall in 2006 limited soft red winter (SRW) plantings; spring freeze and excessive rainfall slashed HRW yields. This was compounded by drought in North Africa and Canada.
The drought in 2006 resulted in the tight supply of wheat worldwide, thus, pushing international wheat prices upward.
“There is no need to panic. Consumers will just have to shell out of few more pesos to buy their bread,” Undersecretary Zenaida C. Maglaya.
"We are hoping that the bumper harvests in 2008 will result to the softening of the wheat prices and that flour millers will make the necessary adjustments," Secretary Favila said. “We are counting on the flour industry players to make bread cheaper again once the 2008 bumper havest kicks in.”
Meanwhile, the government is looking for ways to make bread more affordable or less dependent on wheat flour by developing alternative sources of flour such as coconut, squash and cassava.
“We can source from other agricultural products and these raw materials are now being introduced in local and international markets. Hopefully, by increasing the production of these agricultural products we can produce enough inventories to supplement the needs of the industry,” Undersecretary Maglaya said. (CHARLIE S. DAJAO-DTI IVI-A Regional Office/ARJAY SALGADO)
In a meeting with the Trade Chief, the Philippine Association of Flour Millers (PAFMIL) reported that there is enough supply of wheat and flour for the year.
Presently, PAFMIL has an inventory around 900 million metric tons of wheat and 1 million metric of flour in the country, which adds to around10 million metric tons of flour, PAFMIL Executive Director Ric Pinca said. “This inventory is even bigger that last year which stood at 8 million metric tons.”
In addition, PAFMIL expects a steady supply of wheat up to May next year. “We have committed booked shipments from the United States. We are not going to run out of wheat”
The Philippines yearly book shipments are from June to May 31 each year.
There is another reason to be optimistic as industry leaders are expecting a bountiful harvest of wheat worldwide this year.
Richard White, president of Manildra - a flour importer from Australia, is optimistic that international wheat prices will go down September this year.
For the meantime, Ric Pinca said we have to contend with the price adjustments that are happening worldwide.
In has been reported that international wheat prices have gone up in past few years due to the lean harvest in 2006 and the upsurge in wheat demand.
In the spring of 2006, a drought in the US Plains resulted in the short wheat crop. This was followed by harsh drought that cut Australian production. The wet fall in 2006 limited soft red winter (SRW) plantings; spring freeze and excessive rainfall slashed HRW yields. This was compounded by drought in North Africa and Canada.
The drought in 2006 resulted in the tight supply of wheat worldwide, thus, pushing international wheat prices upward.
“There is no need to panic. Consumers will just have to shell out of few more pesos to buy their bread,” Undersecretary Zenaida C. Maglaya.
"We are hoping that the bumper harvests in 2008 will result to the softening of the wheat prices and that flour millers will make the necessary adjustments," Secretary Favila said. “We are counting on the flour industry players to make bread cheaper again once the 2008 bumper havest kicks in.”
Meanwhile, the government is looking for ways to make bread more affordable or less dependent on wheat flour by developing alternative sources of flour such as coconut, squash and cassava.
“We can source from other agricultural products and these raw materials are now being introduced in local and international markets. Hopefully, by increasing the production of these agricultural products we can produce enough inventories to supplement the needs of the industry,” Undersecretary Maglaya said. (CHARLIE S. DAJAO-DTI IVI-A Regional Office/ARJAY SALGADO)
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