ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announced that the prices of canned sardines are expected to increase by more than PHP1 due to the upsurge in the production cost.
Ceferino Rubio, DTI provincial director, on Thursday told the Philippine News Agency that the price of sardines would increase by PHP1.12 per can by the end of this month or in April due to the hike in cost of fuel and “tamban.”
Tamban (Herring) is major raw material used in the production of canned sardines.
The present prices of sardines range from PHP12.50 to PHP15 per can at the supermarket.
“We were made to understand that the prices of canned goods, especially sardines, will have an increase, not as a result of Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law, but as a result of the increase in price of fishing cost attributed by the increase in the price of fuel,” Rubio said.
Rubio gathered that a liter of diesel now costs PHP41 to PHP42 a liter from only PHP32 per liter in March last year.
Most, if not all, of the boats of the local canning firms and fishing firms are powered by diesel engine.
He said the price of tamban shoot up to PHP24 per kilo on March 1 from last year’s PHP17 a kilo.
Meanwhile, he disclosed that the prices of some sweetened beverages have already increased since January this year due to the effectivity of the TRAIN law. (R. G. Antonet Go/PNA)
