Higher prices of chicken seen

MANILA, Philippines — Chicken prices can be expected to rise leading up to the holiday season as pork consumption remain selective amid an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF), the head of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said. 

Pork aversion due to the ASF outbreak has caused prices of pork in the National Capital Region (NCR) to decline by three percent month-on-month and by 5.3 percent year-on-year as of October. 

Prices of whole chicken in NCR, meanwhile, has risen by 7.6 percent month-on-month and by 14 percent year-on-year in the same month. 

NCR prices of beef, meanwhile, has risen by 0.7 percent month-on-month and by 4.6 percent year-on-year during the month as it is now the next best substitute to pork after chicken 

“What we are seeing now is chicken prices are rising. And so we expect that the price of chicken will continue to increase because there is a shift (in consumption),” PSA chief Dennis Mapa told reporters in a recent interview. 

Pork consumption, he said, can be expected to be selective as consumers consider brands and geographical sources of pork and pork products. 

ASF so far is most prevalent in NCR, Region III and Region IV A. Visayas and Mindanao, meanwhile, are considered to be ASP free zones. 

On the upside, increased demand for chicken will encourage poultry raisers to ramp up production in the fourth quarter, providing the agriculture sector a growth boost in growth. 

“Hog production may register negative growth in the fourth quarter but other sectors may compensate like chicken, the growth in which is seen increasing by double digit,” Mapa said. 

The headline inflation rate for NCR rose to 1.3 percent in October from 0.9 percent in September but was still lower than the 6.1 percent in October 2018. 

Mapa attributed this to the uptick in the prices of meat products in Metro Manila due to the ASF outbreak.