Traders urged to cut prices of goods

With the steady decline in world oil prices, Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo has urged manufacturers to cut the prices of their goods and services to reflect the decrease in production and transportation costs resulting from lower petroleum costs.

Based on estimates by the Department of Trade and Industry’s Consumer Protection and Advocacy Bureau, the price of a 155-gram can of sardines should go down by 22 centavos; a 370-milliliter can of evaporated milk can be lowered by 95 centavos; a 50-gram coffee refill by 99 centavos, and a 25-kilogram sack of flour by P25.91.

“Filipino consumers should also benefit from the continuous fall in world oil prices that have gone down some 30 percent since June this year,” Domingo noted.

“We are going over our data to check how the price drop should be reflected on the prices of basic and prime goods. The steady decline of oil prices should now have a significant impact on the prices of all products and services. At the minimum, they should decrease by 3 percent,” he pointed out.

The DTI, as the chair and secretariat of the National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC), is meeting with other members such as the departments of Agriculture, of Energy and of Health to determine further the extent of the effect of falling prices of crude oil on products and services.

The DTI is likewise urging government agencies such as the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, the Civil Aeronautics Board, the Maritime Industry Authority and the Energy Regulatory Commission to also assess the impact of the 30-percent decline in world oil prices on trucking and shipping rates, land transportation fare, fuel surcharges and electricity rates, among others, which are the most immediately affected in the market.

“We are calling on producers and distributors to share with the public the savings they are realizing as a result of the lower cost of transportation and energy, particularly on agricultural products and basic consumer goods. This would be a timely and much needed service to Filipino consumers especially with Christmas just around the corner,” Domingo stressed.

Last week, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), the oil producers’ cartel, decided not to cut output at its 166th meeting in Vienna, Austria, and maintain production at 30 million barrels a day as first agreed in December 2011.

Following the announcement, the price of the benchmark Brent crude fell below $72 a barrel, its lowest since August 2010, before settling at $72.82, reflecting a 5-percent drop that day.

With this development, oil prices can be expected to remain low in the months to come.

Based on DOE records, the average pump price of diesel fell about 20 percent this year, from P44.63 a liter in January to P36.71 this November. Data from the DOE further showed that the average household liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) price plummeted by about 25 percent over the same period from P45.36 a kilo to P34.54.