PORK prices are expected to go up by at least P20 per kilo as demand for the product rises and as a consequence of the effect of the African swine fever (ASF), Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines, Inc. (Agap) party-list Rep. Nicanor Briones said.

Briones said that the farmgate price of pork ranges from P180 to P185 per kilo.

“We came from the farmgate price between P160 to P170 per kilo. There was already an increase of P20. We expect another increase because of the ASF,” he told The Manila Times.

Based on the daily monitoring of the Department of Agriculture (DA) on Thursday, the retail price of fresh pork kasim ranges from P275 to P350 per kilo and pork liempo from P320 to P390 per kilo.

The cost of frozen imported pork kasim is lower at P240 to P245 per kilo while frozen imported liempo is priced between P270 and P280 a kilo.

“There will be an increase in the demand for pork because of the ‘ber’ months until January and the movement in the prices of pork is also expected,” Briones said.

He contradicted the data from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) that only five regions in the country are affected by ASF, saying there are many cases that are unreported.

“On the contrary, there are only five regions that are ASF-free. In Batangas alone, seldom you can hear news on ASF, but cases are recurring but hog raisers chose not to report,” Briones said. “Nobody declares ASF as hog raises do not expect compensation. They instead sell all their pigs just to prevent losses.”

Briones urged the government to provide funding for the compensation of hog farmers affected by the ASF.

“While we support the repopulation effort of the Department of Agriculture, it’s not enough. The government needs to provide compensation so that hog raisers, especially backyard raisers, will be encouraged to report ASF,” he said.

National Federation of Hog Farmers, Inc. President Chester Warren Tan said that the hog raisers are looking for alternatives amid the increase in the cost of inputs.

“We don’t want a repeat of our experience last year where the retail price of pork in the wet market reached P400 per kilo, that is why we are looking for alternatives for our feeds,” he said.

Tan noted that the price of soya and wheat increased because of the Russian-Ukraine war.

“Soya and wheat are the primary feeds for our pigs and as we all know, wheat comes from Ukraine and it is too expensive,” he said.

Tan gave assurances that the country has enough pork supply.

“We have many stocks in the cold storage of about 89 million kilograms, more than enough to meet the demand during the Christmas season,” he said.