Rice prices ease as NFA floods market
Marianne V. Go
Philippine Star
Commercial rice prices have stabilized as a result of selective bombardment of state-subsidized stocks in the market, Bureau of Agriculture Statistics director Romeo Recide said.
In a report to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, Recide said rice prices in Metro Manila have stabilized while those in other regions already dropped by as much as P2 per kilo as of last weekend.
Administrator Jessup Navarro of the National Food Authority (NFA) said this was the result of the selective bombardment strategy carried out by the food agency as ordered by President Arroyo and Yap.
Yap said the price drop is significant because it is happening when retail prices are supposed to be on the upswing during the traditional three-month lean months.
Yap said that given the comfortable NFA stockpile, the government is ready and able to continue flooding the market with state-subsidized stocks in order to further pull down retail prices and stave off undue price spikes wherever and whenever necessary.
The NFA will pump some 350,000 metric tons (MT) or seven million bags every month into the market to stabilize the supply and bring down prices during the lean months and the rest of the year.
The NFA has increased its injection of government-subsidized rice into the market at P18.25 a kilo and commercial varieties of the grain for P25 and P35 a kilo since June.
Navarro said that while commercial prices have gone down to as low as P34 a kilo in certain parts, the NFA will further increase the injection of the government stocks being sold at P35 a kilo wherever needed in order to pull down prices in areas where the retail cost exceeds P38 a kilo.
“Because the NFA has adequate rice stocks in its warehouses, it has been able to undertake this selective bombardment strategy whenever and wherever necessary as a way to stabilize retail prices,” Yap said.
“We will flood the market with even more rice to further stabilize and eventually pull down prices of the staple, especially for the benefit of our low-income consumers,” he added.
Areas where retail prices have started to retreat include Baguio City, where regular milled rice, which used to sell for P38 a kilo, now costs only P36 a kilo, the BAS reported.
In Iloilo and Cebu, regular milled rice now costs only P38 a kilo from a high of P40 a kilo.
In Tuguegarao City, the price of regular-milled rice dropped from P35 to P34 a kilo; well-milled rice from P37 to P36 a kio; and premium rice from P39 to P38 a kilo.
A kilo of regular milled rice in Zamboanga City, which used to cost P39 a kilo, now sells for P38 a kilo; while in Davao City, the price dropped from P38 to P36 a kilo.
In Cotabato City, the price of rice dropped by P1 a kilo, with the regular-milled variety now selling from P38 to P37 a kilo; well-milled from P40 to P39 a kilo; and premium from P41 to P40 a kilo.
According to Navarro, from 3,000 tons of rice, the NFA has increased its volume of supply in the market to 10,000 tons per day, and at times as much as 14,000 tons, which is more than thrice its usual injection rate.
The NFA has sufficient inventories owing to the bumper summer harvests and incoming imports from Vietnam totaling 600.000 MT.
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