More commercial rice consumers have shifted to NFA rice because of the increasing prices of commercial rice. That is according to a rice retailer in Cebu.
CDN file photo
A SHIPMENT of 120,000 bags of rice imported from Thailand which is expected to arrive within the week will be stored at the new warehouse of the National Food Authority in Central Visayas (NFA-7) at the Cebu International Port (CIP) and will fill it to full capacity.
The P33-million earthquake and typhoon-resistant rice storage facility was inaugurated on Friday, September 7.
“Naa man mi vessel maabot karon na week… Kadtong sa last nga importation namo kadtong sa open tender [process] naa pa man mi balance ato nga 350,000 bags. Naay maabot first nga vessel 120,000 bags,” NFA-7 Information Officer Olma Marie Bayno said in an interview on Sunday.
(We have a vessel arriving this week. We still expect to receive 350,000 bags from our previous importation under the open tender process. The first vessel will have 120,000 bags.)
Bayno said the capacity of the new warehouse is expected to augment the current 600,000-bag capacity of four existing NFA warehouses at the CIP.
“Daghan man og factors nga mabasa ang bugas ug madaot, like kanang inig diskarga from the vessel. But with our warehouses, once nga naa na gyod and bugas sulod sa bodega, secured na gyod sya,” Bayno said.
(There are many factors why the rice gets wet and rots, like when it is unloaded from the vessel. But with the warehouses, once the bags of rice are inside, it will be secure.)
Meanwhile,Bayno also assured that the presence of the cheaper NFA rice in the market will be sustained with the arrival of the imported rice.
“Ang atong administrator (Jason Aquino) was there during the inauguration and in fact, ang iyang instruction is mag-release gyod mi og as much supply sa market para ma-maintain namo ang visibility sa cheaper rice,” Bayno said.
Bayno also said that Aquino instructed them to increase the volume of NFA rice allocated for the rolling stores from the current 50 bags to 75 bags daily.