INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Canned sardine manufacturers won’t take back their earlier request to raise the price ceiling on their products as their input cost continues to shoot up due to rising fuel prices and the weakening of the peso against the US dollar.
“Our answer is no,” Francisco Buencamino, executive director of Canned Sardines Association of the Philippines (CSAP), said when asked whether the group would rescind its request to increase the suggested retail price (SRP) for their products.
“The P3 increase is a very small portion of the finished canned prices. What we are asking for is a meager price increase in spite of the fact that our SRP request at the DTI [Department of Trade and Industry] [has been] pending for two years,” he added.
Makers of canned goods earlier sought the DTI’s approval for a higher price adjustment on sardines.
In August, the department released a new SRP list for basic good and prime commodities with the price of canned sardines in tomato sauce higher by 6 percent.
A 130-gram canned sardine retails for P15.25 while the price for the 155-gram varieties ranges from P13.25 to P19.58 apiece.
Benjamin Sy, president of CSAP, said that many of the products they use for producing canned goods, including tin cans and tomato paste, were imported.
“The peso devaluation has resulted in a 15-percent increase just because of the weakening against the [US] dollar. We are hoping that we can try to do our best,” he told reporters.
The accord signed between the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and CSAP, according to Sy, would provide them an additional supply of fish during the three-month closed fishing season beginning in December.
“This will reduce the overhead when canneries are closed down for three months. That will help a lot. It can also reduce the carrying cost. Before, we have to keep three months of stocks in the warehouse during the closed season. All of these will help,” he said.
The memorandum of agreement signed by both parties aims to ensure sufficient raw materials for canneries for the entire year, especially during the fishing ban.
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