Cypork, which covers around three quarters of pork production in Cyprus, said the new hikes were down to the 5.0 per cent VAT on foodstuff that comes into effect on Monday, as well as new increases in grain prices.

Cypork Director George Neophytou yesterday explained that the farmers would in fact be selling the pork five cents dearer, but the price on the market would increase by 10 cents a kilo.

“The increase is necessary due to the increase in grain prices and covers just a small part of the damage suffered by farmers,” said Mr Neophytou.

He added that consumers would be buying pork from their butchers from Monday onwards, at 35 cents more per kilo – 10 cents for the grain increase and 25 cents from the VAT hike.

The new wave of increases in grain prices was inevitable and due to international factors, Cy pork said.

Cyprus Mail reports that the biggest grain suppliers – Russia, Bulgaria and Hungary – were affected by a severe drought last summer, which destroyed millions of hectares of grain crops and led to an increase in prices on the international market.

On 12 December 2009, the price of soybean meal was €360 per tonne, while on 23 December 2010, this had increased to €372 per tonne. Maize cost €163 per tonne in November 2009 and €232 in December 2010. And the price of barley shot up to €246 per tonne last December, from €133 just a month earlier.

“Cypork acts in a completely responsible manner and has imposed the least possible price increase,” the group announced. “We are expecting all those involved in the supply chain – meat traders and butchers – to act with the same social responsibility at a time of economic crisis so that consumers suffer only the minimum increases in meat prices.”