THE country’s total rice inventory stood at 3.02 million metric tons (MMT) as of July 1, almost 10 percent lower than the total rice stocks pegged at 3.35 MMT during the same period last year.
Based on a monthly report released by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS), the total rice inventory will be good for 88 days based on an average daily consumption of 31,000 metric tons (MT).
“Stocks in the depositories of the National Food Authority [NFA] would be good for 44 days, while those in commercial warehouses would be good for 20 days. Household stocks would last for 24 days,” BAS said in its “Rice and Corn Stocks Inventory.”
The NFA has a total of 1.51 MMT of rice stocks in its warehouses while households accounted for 830,000 MT. Commercial warehouses have a total of 690,000 MT of rice.
“Comparative estimates with stocks last year indicated reductions in the household sector by 7.5 percent, and in NFA depositories of which 70 percent were imported rice, by 25.9 percent. In contrast, stocks in the commercial sector was higher by 62.1 percent,” BAS said.
On a monthly basis, the July inventory was 2.3 percent lower than the 3.09 MMT recorded in the month of June. Stocks in households were lower by 9.7 percent, while stocks held by commercial traders were lower by 6.7 percent. Rice stored in NFA depositories, meanwhile, went up by 4.6 percent.
As for corn stocks, the national inventory as of July 1 stood at 221,300 MT, or 103 percent higher than the 109,100 MT recorded in the same period last year.
Majority or 175,900 MT of corn was stored in commercial warehouses while households accounted for 45,400 MT. The NFA held only around 30,000 MT.
“Relative to last year’s inventory, household stocks grew by 22 percent, and stocks in commercial warehouses recorded a significant increase of 200.7 percent. In contrast, stocks in NFA depositories dropped by 99.8 percent,” the report read.
On a monthly basis, corn stocks in households dropped by 4.8 percent and by 5.8 percent in commercial warehouses. There was no change in stocks held in NFA depositories from last month’s inventory.
