EXPLAINER

Dealer's costs show pork at P270-per-kilo price ceiling won't work

The P270-per-kilo ceiling that President Rodrigo Duterte set for the retail price of kasim and pigue portions of pork in his executive order may be difficult to live with, a cost computation by a pork dealer showed.

According to Darlene Cay's report on "24 Oras", pork dealer Randy Tanael said the total cost per kilo of the pork he buys and transports from Batangas is already over P264.

He sells pork to market vendors at P270 per kilo for a profit of a P5.23.

The price at which Tanael sells his pork to market vendors is already the ceiling Duterte's executive order set for the retail price of kasim and pigue.

On Wednesday, Tanael purchased 27 pigs at P21,500 each because he was charged P215 per kilo of live weight. Each pig weighs an average of 100 kilos.

The needed permits summed up to an additional P37 per pig.

The labor costs were another P194.44 for each pig.

On top of these, he paid a slaughter fee of P100 per pig.

Transportation from the slaughterhouse to the market meant P150 per pig.

By the time the pork gets to the market, the 100-kilo weight of a live pig had been trimmed down to 84 kilos.

Tanael’s total expenses of P22,240.69, when divided by 84 kilos, come down to a capital of P264.77 per kilo of pork.

He then sells these at P270 per kilo to retailers, earning a profit of P5.23 per kilo.

Tanael said this could still go down as the transportation cost would be the same even if he bought fewer pigs to sell.

“Sa amin na-experience ko P130 [per kilo of live weight] pinakamahal na namin ‘yun e. May kinikita na noon ang farm owner, lahat may kinikita na do’n,” Tanael said.

After purchasing pork from dealers like Tanael, retailers then sell the meat at prices of up to P310 per kilo.

However, this does not automatically mean that retailers made P40 in profit since they also pay for the rent of their stall, the salaries of their staff, and plastic bags. -Julia Mari Ornedo/NB, GMA News