The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has reported a slight uptick in the price of well-milled rice over the last two and one-half months.
Based on the latest statistics, well-milled rice sells at an average of P56.95 per kilogram (kg) during the second half of March, up from P56.29 in February.
Rice retailers said the increase in the buying price of palay by the government has also spurred local traders heighten their palay buying by topping off a few more pesos on what the government offered to the farmers.
Adding to this is the additional premium given by the local government units (LGUs) to the government’s buying price.
With the government and traders competing for local harvest, the price of wet paddy rice effectively increased from P23 to P24/kg., while dry palay fetches P29.50 to P30/kg.
Based on the DA Rice Outlook, total national supply was at 6.23 million metric tons (MT), while total demand was at 3.83 million MT.
While there was a slight increase in local rice prices, traders noted a softening of rice prices in the world market by about $50 to $70/MT in the last few months, but rebounded by $20/MT in April.
The Philippines sources majority of its rice imports from Vietnam, although Indonesia was the biggest rice importer at present.
As of last March, Philippine rice imports that arrive through 14 ports of entry totalled to 1.06 million MT based on data from the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
