THE NATIONAL Food Authority (NFA-7) foresees a P3 cut in the price of commercial rice in the market by the end of October to December this year.
“Nationwide, the trend is that there will be a decrease of P3 per kilogram,” NFA-7 regional director Fernando Nuñez said.
Nuñez said that the forecast is based on the on-going harvest of palay in different rice farms all over the country.
NFA has also replenished its supply of NFA rice with an allocation of 500,000 bags of rice through government to government import arrangement and 980,000 bags of rice through government to private sector arrangement or open tender.
Currently, NFA-7 has around 977,499 bags of rice stored in their warehouses. The supply is expected to last until the first quarter of 2019.
Olma Bayno, NFA-7 information officer said that even this week; they already monitored a P1 decrease in the price of commercial rice.
“Last week, well-milled rice (WMR) was sold to the market at around P40 to P49 per kilogram, but for this week, it’s now sold at P40 to P48 per kilogram based on its prevailing price,” Bayno said.
Nuñez said the NFA Council has approved the importation of an additional 750,000 metric tons (MT) of rice for the 4th quarter this year, which could cause a higher price cut for commercial rice in the market.
NFA rice is sold in the market at P27 per kilogram and P32 per kilogram.
“(The price of rice this year) is no longer comparable to last year, but we are expecting, because we’ve recorded the highest price of commercial rice last September, (this month) we are expecting a decrease, though it’s minimal,” Nuñez explained.
Nuñez said NFA buys palay at at P20.70 per kilo.
He said rice farmers from Negros Oriental have already expressed their intention to sell their harvest to the agency.