THE average farm-gate price of dry unhusked rice sank to a new eight-year low of P15.83 per kilogram in end-September, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
Preliminary data from the PSA indicated that the current average farm-gate price of dry palay is 29.3 percent lower than the P22.36 per kg recorded a year ago.
“The average farm-gate price of palay dropped further to P15.82 per kg or by 0.9 percent during the week relative to its previous week’s level of P15.96 per kg,” the PSA said in its price monitoring report published on Wednesday.
The latest figure is the lowest since the second week of December 2011, when prices reached P15.83 per kg.
From September 25 to October 1, PSA data showed that the lowest national average dry palay price was at P10 per kg, while the highest average was at P20.40 per kg.
PSA data also showed that traders in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) offered the lowest quotation, which averaged P12.50 per kg., while those in Central Visayas offered to buy rice at an average of P19.10 per kg.
In Central Luzon, the country’s rice granary, the prevailing farm-gate price of dry palay declined to P15.08 per kg, the third-lowest average price recorded among all regions.
Among Central Luzon provinces, traders in Pampanga offered to buy unhusked rice at P12 per kg, which is now below the average production cost of palay. Planters spend an average of P12.42 to produce a kilo of palay, according to PSA data.
Retail prices
Preliminary PSA data also showed that the retail prices of both well-milled rice and regular-milled rice (RMR) fell to their lowest levels in more than two years. The average retail price of WMR dropped 14.9 percent to P42.03 per kg, from P49.41 per kg in the last week of September last year, PSA data showed.
Historical PSA data showed that the latest figures are the lowest since the fifth week of July 2017, when retail price reached P41.95 per kg.
“The average wholesale price of well-milled rice dropped further to P38.15 per kg or by 0.2 percent this week from its previous week’s level of P38.21 per kg,” the PSA report read.
“Similarly, it continued to decline at an annual rate of 17.2 percent from its level of P46.07 per kg in the same week of the previous year,” it added.
The same trend was observed in the wholesale and retail prices of RMR. The average retail price of RMR sank to P37.63 per kg, the lowest since the third week of May 2017, when it was pegged at P37.57 per kg.
“At the retail trade, the average price of regular-milled rice dipped to P37.63 per kg, or by 0.1 percent this week, from its week-ago level of P37.66 per kg,” the report read.
“Annually, it fell further at a rate of 18.4 percent from its level of P46.14 per kg in the same week of the previous year,” it added.
PSA data also showed that the average wholesale price of RMR went down by 21.2 percent to P34.04 per kg, from last year’s P43.22 per kg.
Image credits: Bernand Testa