The Department of Agriculture (DA) said retail prices of fresh pork have dropped by 20 percent from their peak at the start of the year.
This is amid falling farmgate prices, rising imports and the spread of African swine fever.
Based on DA’s monitoring of 11 public markets in Metro Manila yesterday (September 29), prevailing price of fresh kasim is now at P280 per kg from its peak price of P360 per kg in January while fresh liempo sells at P340 per kg from peak price at P400 per kg at the start of the year.
DA said apart from hog repopulation efforts, the availability of imported frozen pork sold in wet markets contributed to the price drop of fresh pork.
Frozen pork sold in wet markets are cheaper by P60 per kg compared to fresh pork at P220 per kg for frozen kasim and P280 per kg for frozen liempo.
However, DA said only seven out of every 100 meat stalls are selling frozen pork in the National Capital Region since chillers are required to offer frozen pork in wet markets.
The DA also cited data from hog producers that farmgate prices have gradually declined since January 2021.
Farmgate prices in Batangas, Bulacan, Quezon Province, Cebu, Iloilo and Agusan del Sur were at a high of P250 per kg and a low of P123 per kg at start of the year but already dropped to a high of P170 per kg and a low of P120 per kg by the second week of September.
However, in an online briefing on Tuesday, Reildrin Morales, director of the Bureau of Animal Industry, said that active cases of African swine fever (ASF) in the country as of September 10, increased to 41 barangays located in 13 provinces
The numbers hiked from DA’s previous report dated August 13 when the disease was active in only 22 barangays and eight provinces.
Morales assured the situation is under control but said DA is yet to receive official findings on the field efficacy testing of ASF vaccines that were administered in selected farms in the country.
The DA said that it will continue to assist pork producers to maintain momentum and push the industry to sustain its repopulation and recovery.
Loan and insurance programs are still available for producers to be encouraged in getting back to hog raising.
The DA hopes that with the current efforts of the government and the private sector to repopulate hogs, local production of pork will be back at a surplus as early as 2023 at 474,012 metric tons (MT) and will be doubled to 809,172 MT by 2023 and as much as 1.14 million MT by 2025.
