Palay prices start to rise

MANILA, Philippines - Palay prices have started to rise in the third to fourth week of March as farmers rush to complete another dry season cropping before the lean season, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported.

In its latest rice corn price monitoring report, PSA said the average farmgate price of palay has risen by 0.62 percent week-on-week to P18.05 per kilogram during the monitoring period of March 18 to 24 after successive weeks of decrease. Compared to last year’s quotation, this was lower by 9.32 percent.

The average wholesale price of well-milled rice of P38.57 per kilogram was higher by 0.20 percent from last week’s quotation. A price decline of 0.24 percent over last year’s record was noted.

The average retail price of P41.72 per kilogram for well-milled rice was lower by 0.03 percent from the previous week’s quotation. It was higher by 1.18 percent from last year’s posting.

The average wholesale price of regular-milled rice placed at P35.35 per kilogram rose by 0.38 percent from the previous week’s quotation of P35.22 kilogram. Year-on-year, the average price fell by 1.71 percent.

The average retail price of P37.97 per kilogram fell by 0.10 percent both week-on-week and year-on-year.

The average farmgate prices of yellow corn grain, meanwhile, fell slightly week-on-week during the monitoring period while that of white corn grain rose.

The average price of yellow corn grain fell by 0.07 percent from last week’s quotation of P12.60 per kilogram but was higher by 2.56 percent  from last  year’s quotation of P12.28 per kilogram.

The average farmgate price of white corngrain at P14.02 per kilogram was higher by 1.51 percent from the previous year’s quotation. Year-on-year, this was lower by 12.36 percent.

The average wholesale price of yellow corn grain rose while retail price remained stable two weeks prior to the monitoring period.