By Janine Alexis Miguel
April 8, 2023
THE retail price of rice could go up by P5 a kilo in the next few weeks because of a lower import volume and high farm production costs, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has projected.
DA deputy spokesman Rex Estoperez said in a briefing Thursday he is hoping the price increase will not be as high as forecast since the government has stepped in.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has reported that a kilo of well-milled rice was selling at between 19 centavos and P2.13 higher in six trading centers toward the end of last March.
Last year, rice imports reached 3.7 million metric tons (MMT), almost 1 MMT higher than the 2.77 MMT last year, making the Philippines the world's second biggest rice importer.
But according to the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), the volume of imported rice fell 16.20 percent year on year, translating to 3.6 MMT as of last March.
Estoperez is puzzled why rice inventories have dropped despite the increase in rice imports from the previous year.
"We are also wondering why, because we had imports of 3.8 million metric tons last year. What happened to those stocks?" Estoperez said.
Chief economist of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Michael Ricafort attributed the lower inventory to the rising price of the staple in the world market.
Ricafort predicts that "for the coming months, better weather conditions into the dry or summer season would help increase planting, harvests, and supplies of rice."
He also said the one-year extension of lower tariffs for rice, corn, and other agricultural products could help boost local supplies and help bring down prices.
Last month, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said his campaign promise of rice sold at P20 per kilo will soon become a reality.
He said that rice was already down to P25 a kilo.
