The supermarket industry in the Philippines is expecting prices of many consumer goods to increase in March, all thanks to rising fuel and other raw material costs brought by the Ukraine war.
Steven T. Cua, President of Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association said, “Because of the continuous increase in oil price, prices of basic necessities and prime commodities are expected to increase around 3% to 6%. For non-essentials, as high as 8% to 15%.”
According to Cua, mostly affected goods include powdered milk, canned meat, canned fish, fresh milk, biscuits, toothpaste, lotion, children’s formula, liquor, most imported items, bread spreads, and condiments.
Cua advised Filipino consumers to shift to smaller sizes of the same product or alternative brands, and to take advantage of items on sale.
Earlier on 27 January, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) issued a new suggested retail price list for basic and prime commodities, which reflected higher prices for 73 stock keeping units (SKUs) out of 216 SKUs. Some of these products include bottled water, processed canned meat and canned beef, instant noodles, salt, and canned sardines. According to the DTI, the increase was due to the increase in the global prices of raw materials and materials used in packaging. With the Ukraine war started in late February, prices of raw materials like wheat and other commodities experience another jump.
Philippine is not the only country affected by rising material costs. Other ASEAN countries are also similarly affected.
