Palace expects prices  of rice  to drop

CEBU, Philippines —  Prices of rice are expected to drop as the Philippines received lower export quotations from Vietnam while the government continues talks with India, another top rice exporting country, to procure the staple.

In a statement released by Malacañang on Friday, Department of Agriculture (DA) Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban said Vietnamese exporters have quoted Filipino private traders $30 to $40 lower following their meeting at Malacañang.

The DA, which is concurrently headed by President Marcos, will also work with the government of India to allow export of rice to the country on humanitarian grounds, Panganiban said.

“This will hopefully pave the way for the country to get better terms for the additional 300,000 to 500,000 MT rice importation for this year,” he said.

“This will help lower prices as it will further beef up our national inventory which, even without importation, is good to last for 52 to 57 days by end,” Panganiban said.

Marcos recently met with DA officials and traders at Malacañang where they discussed recommendations to address issues on the country’s rice supply.

The President earlier assured the public the country has a sufficient supply of rice that could last even after the El Niño phenomenon next year.

“The rice situation is manageable and stable. There is enough rice for the Philippines up to and after the El Niño next year,” Marcos said during a meeting with the Private Sector Advisory Council and the Philippine Rice Stakeholders Movement (PRISM) at Malacañang on Aug. 8.

DA Undersecretary Merceditas Sombillo had said the government is eyeing to import 1.3 million metric tons (MMT) of the grain.

The government, however, has yet to set the dates of importation, she said.

Sombillo said the projected ending stock for 2023 is 1.96 MMT, enough to last for 52 days. The ending stock projection based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority was projected at 2.12 MMT, which would last for 57 days, she added.

Palay harvest season is set to start September until November.

According to the latest report from the DA's Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center, damage and losses in rice due to typhoons “Egay” and “Falcon” amounted to P1.79 billion, affecting 114,735 hectares and posting production losses of 42,778 MT, or 0.22 percent of the total annual rice production target of 19.76 million MT.

The Marcos administration remains hopeful it will fulfill the President’s campaign promise of lowering the price of rice to P20 a kilo. — Philippine Star News Service/FPL