Rice import arrivals reach 401,823 MT as of mid-June

Rice imports are boosting the government’s efforts to meet the country’s requirement for the basic staple especially with the onset of the lean production months.

As of mid-June, rice import arrivals reached 401,823 metric tons (MT). These include the 117,817 MT the government availed itself of under the USPL-480 Title 1 and 284,006 MT under the contracted quantity of the 650,000 MT rice imports this year .

Agriculture Undersecretary for Luzon Operations and National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Arthur C. Yap said the NFA is also strategically positioning the stocks to facilitate easy dispersal, particularly in areas where several typhoons and weather disturbances have been occurring.

"Imported rice are directly unloaded at major transhipment points in the country for ready access of the recipient provinces," Yap said. Unloading the rice shipment nearest to end-users in typhoon-prone regions thwarts attempts to manipulate rice prices.

Among the transhipment points in Luzon are Poro Point in La Union, Subic in Zambales, the Port of Manila, Batangas, and Legazpi in Albay. Transhipment points in the Visayas include Iloilo and Cebu while those in Mindanao are General Santos, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Cotabato and Zamboanga City.

The NFA is also establishing distribution areas to make the P16 per kilogram of rice accessible to consumers nationwide. The agency is prioritizing the distribution of rice through the Bigasan ni Gloria sa Palengke (BGP) that sell only NFA rice.

BGP outlets which are found inside major markets are not allowed to sell commercial rice. The NFA is also focusing on the sale of a higher quality well-milled rice at P18 per kg to accredited outlets especially inside major markets.

Aside from the importation, Yap credited NFA’s extensive palay procurement activities during the summer harvest for its present stable inventory of rice. Since January, NFA’s procurement reached 1.77 million bags, equivalent to 46 percent of the targeted 3.8 million bags for the period.

NFA said that palay procurement and rice import arrivals effectively contributed to the NFA’s build-up of its present stock level of 10 million bags equivalent to 19 days security stocks.

The agency’s rice stock account for about 22 percent of the national total, this can last until the third week of September this year based on NFA’s operational target.

The country’s rice inventory, on the other hand, is about 2.3 MT, sufficient to last for 85 days based on the average daily rice requirement of 27,000 tons. Of this volume, 542,600 tons are commercial stocks while 1,267 million MT are household stocks.