Imports drive up pork inventory

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s inventory of frozen pork increased in the fourth week of January as imports remained high, according to data from the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS).

Latest NMIS figures showed that the inventory of frozen pork in accredited cold storages went up five percent to 67,517.34 metric tons (MT) as of Jan.24.

The figure, however, is more than triple the 21,788.09 MT of frozen pork in the same period last year.

Imported frozen pork accounted for the bulk of the inventory at 66,280.11 MT.

In contrast, local frozen pork only had a share of 1,237.23 MT in the inventory.

Central Luzon had the highest share of frozen imported pork at 23,392.51 MT.

This was followed by the CALABARZON with 20,382.40 MT. The region also accounted for the largest share of local pork at 490.12 MT.

The National Capital Region also had a sizable share of the frozen imported pork at 17,292.79 MT.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) earlier said the supply of pork in the country was slowly stabilizing, driven by enhanced production and supply augmentation from other countries, supported by measures against African Swine Fever (ASF).

Agriculture Secretary William Dar said there is enough pork supply in the country following efforts to strengthen and enhance local production and augment it through the support from other countries.

The DA noted that there has been an increase in the country’s hog inventory from a year ago.

It cited figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showing that the country’s hog inventory is currently at 9.8 million heads, higher than the 9.1 million heads recorded last January.

Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) director Reildrin Morales said this is primarily due to the initiatives and efforts of the private sector, swine raisers’ groups, and professional veterinary associations, that continue to battle the threat of ASF with the government.

“These efforts, implemented in partnership with LGUs, have been instrumental in keeping the industry alive,” Morales said.

With the increase in hog population, the DA said pork supply slowly stabilized as production from local raisers across the country is augmented by frozen items sourced from other countries.

“These imported products are kept in cold storages and will be released to simply augment the supply gap. This is never meant to compete with the local producers,” Morales said.

Market monitors from the DA showed that the prevailing price of kasim or pork ham in Metro Manila markets stood at P340 per kilo yesterday.

In contrast, the price of liempo or pork belly was at P380 a kilo.