MANILA, Philippines – Stock of the main Filipino staple remains ended the year more than enough to meet he government-mandated target for rice-sufficiency, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
Local rice stock inventory hit 3.44 million metric tons (MT) as of December, 13.5 percent up from their year-ago levels. The figure was also an increase of 10.8 percent from end-November.
The current inventory is good for 100 days, the PSA said. As a matter of government policy, a 90-day national rice buffer is considered enough to meet everyday consumption needs.
Broken down, stocks held by households are sufficient for 47 days, while those in commercial warehouses are good for 29 days.
The National Food Authority (NFA), the state rice importer, meanwhile has depositories enough for 24 days, figures showed.
By percentage, Filipino households held the bulk of inventories at 47.8 percent, followed by commercial warehouses at 28.4 percent. NFA supplies cornered 23.8 percent of the total.
Stock levels increased in both commercial warehouses and NFA, data showed. The latter posted the highest year-on-year growth of 68.9 percent, while the former increased 4.9 percent.
Household supplies, on the other hand, dipped 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, corn stock inventory stood at 265,200 MT by the end of last year, up by 22.8 percent year-on-year, but fell11.1 percent from the previous month.
Of the total, 63 percent were in commercial warehouses, 36.5 percent with households, and 0.5 percent were in NFA depositories.
Year-on-year, corn stocks in commercial warehouses and households went up by 36.5 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively while in NFA depositories fell by 18.4 percent.
Rice and corn are considered main Filipino family staples.