THE inventory of frozen pork and dressed chicken in accredited cold storage facilities fell in the first week of July, according to the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS).
The NMIS said frozen pork in storage as of July 3 was 65,818.05 metric tons (MT), down 8.20% from a week earlier.
On a month-on-month basis, inventories dipped 6.61%.
Pork imports accounted for 63,605.08 MT of the frozen inventory while 2,212.98 MT was sourced from domestically-grown hogs.
Accredited cold storage facilities in Calabarzon held 22,307.93 MT or 33.89% of the total. Central Luzon facilities held 15,240.16 MT and those in the National Capital Region (NCR) held 14,887.87 MT.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message that the lower inventory of pork may have been due to the adverse effects of African Swine Fever (ASF).
“That in turn, could have led to higher demand and lower inventory of chicken, as an alternative to pork,” he said.
As of June 29, nine regions, 16 provinces, 58 municipalities, and 187 barangays had active ASF cases, according to the Bureau of Animal Industry.
“Lower inventories could have also been due to higher demand as the economy reopened towards greater normalcy,” he added.
Mr. Ricafort said that the one-year extension of reduced import tariffs on pork “could still support further imports to increase supply.”
The pork tariff rate is currently set at 15% for imports falling within the minimum access volume quota, and 25% for shipments exceeding the quota. The rates were set by executive orders issued by presidents Rodrigo R. Duterte and Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. The rates expire at the end of the year.
In the same report, the NMIS said that the inventory of dressed chicken during the period fell 2.43% week on week to 56,964.28 MT. This was also 5.27% lower compared to a month earlier.
Imported dressed chicken accounted for 35,106.74 MT while domestically-grown chicken totaled 21,857.54 MT.
The NMIS noted that the report does not include fresh chilled chicken and mechanically deboned meat.
The chicken inventory in Calabarzon was 17,566.75 MT or 30% of the total. This was followed by Central Luzon with 16,902.62 MT and the NCR with 7,669.9 MT. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera
