'Pinoy Pandesal' P1 cheaper next week, says PhilBaking 

A one-peso price cut off the retail of pan de sal of the generic kind will take effect next week, the president of the Philippine Baking Industry Group said Tuesday.   “The 4-percent price reduction of Pinoy Pandesal is made possible with the use of imported Indonesian flour currently priced at P840 per bag, which is 8-percent lower than the prevailing price of locally-milled flour at P910 per bag,” PhilBaking president Simplicio Umali Jr. said in a statement.   Lower-priced imported flour will bring to P24 the 10 piece pack of Pinoy Pandesal, down from P25.   Umali, who is also the general manager of Gardenia Bakeries Philippines, said Indonesian flour is the flour most bakeries use now.   However, there is no price cut for ‘Pinoy Tasty’ because the P10 decline in the cost of locally-milled premium hard flour is insufficient to offset the cost increases of other ingredients including refined sugar.   Umali said wheat prices are now at $364 per metric ton, or a 28-percent drop from its March 2011 price of $504 per metric ton.   "World wheat production is also up by 6 percent, from 652 million MT (MMT) last year to 694/MMT at present," he said.   Bakers expect local flour prices to decrease in the months ahead.   “Should the local flour millers be able to reduce their flour by P40 per bag, then we can expect some downward adjustment to the retail price of Pinoy Tasty,” Walter Co, Philbaking director, said. — ELR, GMA News