Prices of canned goods up, says DTI

Some canned goods increased their actual prices in June, but Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez said this was not linked to the faster pace of inflation that month.

Almost half of monitored canned goods increased their actual prices on June 18 to 22, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) noted in a comparative analysis.

This forms part of around 15 percent of monitored basic necessities and prime commodities (BNPCs) that hiked actual prices during the said period in June when compared to the prices in November 2017.

Ten out of 23 brands of canned meat and canned beef, such as luncheon meat and corned beef, saw prices go up from as low as one percent to as high as 10 percent. There was one brand that lowered its price, the report showed, although the decrease was not quantified.

This came at a time when the prices of some products increased, as inflation picked up faster than expected to 5.2 percent year-on-year in June, the highest in more than five years, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Lopez stressed the increase in prices of some BNPCs does not necessarily back the most recent figure on inflation. Some of the products monitored by the DTI are not included in the inflation basket of goods.

Lopez has previously attributed the increase in prices of canned food to a hike in the costs of tin plates worldwide.

There are 44 brands covered by the suggested retail price (SRP) for prime commodities. Only 41 were monitored, the analysis read, with the other brands reported to be out of stock.

Of this figure, 26 brands had no change in actual prices, while 12 increased and three even decreased. DTI did not name the brands.

One condiment had a 7-percent increase in actual price, while two other brands lowered their prices. One brand of toilet soap had a 6-percent increase in actual price.

Under basic necessities, there are 110 brands covered by SRP. Of this figure, DTI was able to monitor 98 brands, of which, only 10 brands increased prices. These were mostly candle brands, which had an increase between 0.2 percent to 17 percent.