MSRP of imported rice down to P49 starting March – DA
IMPORTED RICE Workers unload sacks of rice from the Vietnam cargo ship in the port of Tabaco, Albay in this file photo taken in April 2024. The Department of Agriculture says the maximum suggested retail price of imported rice will go down to P49 beginning March 1. | INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / EDWIN BACASMAS
MANILA, Philippines – The maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) for imported rice will drop to P49 per kilo starting March 1, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Wednesday.
In a statement, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said this is the first time since the MSRP was introduced six weeks ago, that it will fall below the P50 mark.
The new pricing will be implemented “selectively in Metro Manila, key cities, and other urban centers” using a “more surgical approach,” Tiu Laurel added.
READ: DA targets P49/kg MSRP for imported rice by March
“In many provincial areas, we’ve seen prices of imported rice already lower than the MSRP. So we will apply it more selectively,” he explained.
Imported rice
Tiu Laurel noted that the MSRP was initially set at P58 per kilo when it was launched on January 20.
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“This was a non-coercive measure aimed at steering retail prices of imported rice to reflect the steady decline in world market prices and the decision of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to slash rice tariffs from 35 percent to 15 percent, effective last July,” the DA secretary pointed out.
Given this development, Tiu Laurel also hinted at the possibility of further price reductions.
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“We will review the numbers in the coming days to determine if there’s room to lower the MSRP further. As of now, there could be scope for additional reductions, but we’ll have to see,” he said.
Before the MSRP was introduced, imported rice with five percent broken grains was sold between P62 and P64 per kilo, according to the DA.
Meanwhile, the landed cost, or the total expense of importing five percent broken rice into the Philippines, was quoted at $490 per metric ton on Friday, February 21, the DA added.
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