Palay prices up

MANILA, Philippines - The farmgate price of palay rose slightly in the second to third week of the month amid the traditional thin supply during the prevailing lean season. Data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority over the weekend showed. The average farmgate price of palay rose slightly by 0.23 percent to P21.40 per kilogram from July 16 to 22 compared to the previous week and by 21.87 percent from last year’s record.

The increase reflects the increases in the wholesale and retail prices of well-milled and regular-milled rice.

The average wholesale price of well-milled rice rose 0.34 percent to P41.07 per kilogram from the previous week and by 17.85 percent from last year.

The average retail price of well-milled rice during the monitoring period placed at P43.64 per kilogram was 0.25 percent higher than the previous week’s posting and higher by 18.94 percent higher than last year’s quotation.

The average wholesale price of regular-milled rice rose by 1.07 percent to P38.58 from the previous week and by 20.98 percent from the same period last year.

The average retail price of regular-milled rice, meanwhile, rose to P40.29 per kilogram, up by 0.35 percent from the previous week and by 19.66 percent from P33.67 per kilogram in the same period last year.

The National Food Authority (NFA) is holding a tender next month for the importation of 500,000 metric tons (MT) of rice to provide for buffer stocking needs during the prevailing lean season and arrest the rise in prices.

The fresh volume programmed from importation would be scheduled for arrival between September and October. This would be on top of the 800,000 MT earlier imported from Vietnam, shipment of which would be completed by August.

The average farmgate prices of yellow and white corn grain, meanwhile, posted markdowns during the monitoring period.

The average farmgate price of yellow corn grain fell by 2.25 percent from P13.36 per kilogram last week. Year-on-year, however, the average farmgate price was higher by 10.21 percent.

The average farmgate price of yellow corn grain, fell by 3.12 percent to P15.22 per kilogram from the previous week. Year-on-year, however, the average farmgate price rose by 0.20 percent.

The average wholesale price of yellow corn grain fell by 0.51 percent to P17.63 per kilogram during the monitoring period from the previous week. This, however, was up by 10.26 percent from the previous week.