The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) through Trade Undersecretary Ruth Castelo said that manufacturers of basic commodities are requesting a price hike on their products citing various reasons concerning logistics and production.
The official disclosed this during the Laging Handa briefing on Wednesday, January 17.
“The first factor is the price of raw materials that they are using and buying from abroad. Many are imported. The logistics cost is also included since they are using fuel for distribution. And then the packaging materials used by many are also imported,” Castelo said.
Castelo said that the requests for price hikes were under study with the numbers presented by local manufacturers being validated.
This includes items like canned sardines, processed milk (condensed and evaporated), bread, instant noodles, condiments (salt, soy sauce, vinegar), detergent soap, and bath soap.
She further explained that these are items that are included in the suggested retail price (SRP) bulletin which the DTI is expected to release this January.
More so, Castelo informed that their agency are still conducting finalization concerning the prices and computation of basic goods.
“But we are not finished yet and we are still studying thoroughly when we will issue [the SRP bulletin],”
Castelo said.
“We are just finishing up on some important figures to make sure of the computation,” she added.