Palay farmgate prices fall in last week of September

MANILA, Philippines - The average farmgate prices of palay (unhusked rice) continued to fall in the last week of September, causing reductions in wholesale and retail prices of rice, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported yesterday.

Palay prices have been falling for nine consecutive weeks to P20.79 per kilogram in the last week of September from P22 per kilogram weeks ago.

The average farmgate price of palay recorded for the monitoring period of September 24 to Septemner 30 is lower by 0.41 percent from the previous week’s quotation, and higher by 18.06 percent from the  quotation in the same period last year.

Downtrends were also seen for wholesale and retail prices of well-milled rice during the monitoring period.

The average wholesale price of well-milled rice fell to P40.84 per kilogram, down 0.54 percent from the previous week. This, however, was higher by 11.34 percent in the same period last year.

The average retail price of well-milled rice was placed at P43.64 per kilogram during the last week of September, down by 0.48 percent week-on-week. Year-on-year, this was higher by 11.68 percent.

The average wholesale and retail prices of regular-milled rice also fell during the monitoring period.

The wholesale price of P37.87 per kilogram during the last week of September was lower by 0.57 percent from the P38.08 per kilogram posted during the previous week. Year-on-year, this was higher by 11.94 percent.

The average retail price of P40.40 per kilogram was lower by 0.37 percent from the previous week. Year-on-year, this was higher by 12.56 percent from P35.89 per kilogram from last year.