By Jennifer A. Ng

CANNED and processed meat products like luncheon meat, hotdog and corned beef will go up in two months as the price of of carabeef, the primary material used in making them, have become restrictive in recent weeks.

Francisco Buencamino, executive director of the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (Pampi), disclosed that the price of carabeef primarily sourced from India has gone up by 30 percent to 40 percent.

The Pampi official said the increasing demand for Indian carabeef from other importing countries like Eygpt and Malaysia have caused prices to increase in the past four months.

“The allocation [of carabeef from India] is getting smaller [as] other importing countries compete for it,” said Buencamino.

“There is no shortage in India as they are still producing carabeef and they have not cut back on production. The thing is, their market [for carabeef] is expanding,” he said.

The Pampi official disclosed that allocation of carabeef for Philippine processors have gone down by as much as 40 percent in recent months.

While the prices of canned goods like luncheon meat and corned beef have just registered as increases last week, Buencamino attributed this mainly to the hike in the price of tin cans.

“The impact of more expensive carabeef will be felt by consumers possibly in 60 days,” said Buencamino.

Carabeef is the primary material used by meat processors in producing products like hotdogs, luncheon meat and corned beef. Local processors have been sourcing their products from India, where it is cheaper.

The race by countries to stock up on crucial food supply in recent months is weighing heavily on food-importing countries like the Philippines, which are forced to pay more for the food they procure.

Pampi is composed of 31 member-companies, including San Miguel Foods Corp., with annual production of about 600 million kilos of meat products worth over P80 billion.

The association, which groups the largest meat processors in the country, directly employs 35,000 Filipinos and provides indirect employment to 50,000 others.

CANNED and processed meat products like luncheon meat, hotdog and corned beef will go up in two months as the price of of carabeef, the primary material used in making them, have become restrictive in recent weeks.

AS commodity prices increased, the country’s minimum wage continued to decrease and is now only 34 percent of the amount needed for a family to live decently, independent think tank IBON Foundation said.

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) will draw up a master list of all rice clusters or irrigators’ associations and palay farmers nationwide to determine the particular intervention or productivity measures that should be put in place in every province as part of its effort to attain “rice self-sufficiency” by 2010.

THE Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica) projects that its assistance to the Philippines in the coming year will not be less than $10 million in 2009, its current grant-assistance allotment for the country this year.

CLARK FREE PORT—Clark Development Corp. (CDC) president Levy Laus submitted last month a letter to President Arroyo to relinquish his CDC post.