THE year 2007 may be the year of the pig, according to the Chinese calendar, but hog raisers say prospects look bleak for their industry as the price of local hogs continues its decline despite the anticipated demand for pork products this holiday season.

Albert Lim Jr., president of the National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. (NFHFI) disclosed that backyard raisers who supply majority of the hog requirements of the country, now has to contend with the live weight price of P60 to P65 per kilo and corn prices pegged at P12.80 per kilo.

“In 2004, the retail price of pork went up to P140 per kilo and farmgate price also went up to P90 to P92 per kilo and corn was below P9 kilo,” said Lim. Corn is a major component in hog feeds.

The NFHFI official points to the decline in demand for pork products as one of the major factors behind the continuous slide in the price of live hogs in the domestic market.

Lim disclosed that meat processors have reduced their purchase of live hogs. Processed meat products that make use of pork include tocino and longganisa.

“While we cannot quantify how much [pork] is being smuggled, the decline in price is one indication that there is smuggling,” he said.

Pork from China, Lim said, is cheaper due to the abundance of supply. He said smuggled pork from China commands a retail price of about P80 per kilo.

The hog sector has earlier led the call to reconstitute the anti-smuggling task force under the Office of the President. In response, the Department of Agriculture together with the Bureau of Customs implemented anti-smuggling measures to avert the smuggling of farm products.

To make local pork products more competitive, the NFHFI official said, hog raisers are pushing for the importation of yellow corn at zero tariff.

Poultry and hog raisers point to the steep price of yellow corn in the local market today as one of the reasons why they incur huge losses.

“The Department of Agriculture [DA] is saying there is enough corn but they have to distinguish between yellow and white corn. What we use for hogs is the yellow variant and that one is short in supply,” he said.

The hog sector is considered one of the major subsectors in agriculture, with its worth estimated at P120 billion.

THE year 2007 may be the year of the pig, according to the Chinese calendar, but hog raisers say prospects look bleak for their industry as the price of local hogs continues its decline despite the anticipated demand for pork products this holiday season.

THE Philippines could become a major shipbuilding and ship-repair center in five years with the issuance of an executive order creating a special committee that would seek measures to modernize the local industry, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Romulo L. Neri said Wednesday.

MOST countries in the Gulf region have already rejected early on the Philippines’ implementation of a new wage standard for domestic helpers (DHs), which local manpower agencies fear would threaten the country’s position in the global market.

TAIWAN’S economic officials are asking the Philippines to roll out additional incentives, including the grant of free lease on the use of properties for a certain period, to make it more enticing for Taiwanese businessmen to locate here.

DAVAO CITY—Mango growers here reported having recovered several times from their heavy losses from erratic rainfall pattern and fly infestation during the first quarter of the year.