Expect flour prices to soar, millers group warns consumers

Local flour prices are expected to increase due to higher global wheat prices, the Philippine Association of Flour Millers Inc. (PAFMIL) said Saturday.

Ric Pinca, executive director of PAFMIL, said that the price of wheat has gone up from $300 per metric ton (MT) last year to over $500MT to about $600MT.

With this, Pinca said, “Talagang tataas ng harina dahil patuloy na tumataas ang presyo ng trigo, ng wheat, na ginagamit sa paggawa ng flour sa world market.”

(The price of flour will indeed soar because of the continued rise in the world market of the price of wheat, which is used to make flour.)

Wheat prices have skyrocketed due mainly to the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia -- which account for 30% to 40% of world’s exportable stocks of wheat -- India’s export ban to protect its local supply of wheat, and the drought in wheat-producing areas in the United States, according to Pinca.

Also, the weakening of the Philippine peso against the US dollar, which already hit the $56:$1 level, could trigger an increase in production cost of flour, he said.

To illustrate the situation, Pinca said the price of Filipino staple pandesal has gone up further to P2.50 to P3.00 per piece.

Pinca expects the government consider reducing the tariff for the raw materials in making bread such as flour and sugar, as well as reduce the value added tax (VAT) for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to address the situation. —LBG, GMA News