The country’s rice inventory as of April 1 declined by 20.35 percent to 2.68 million metric tons (MMT), from 3.36 MMT recorded a year ago, according to the latest report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Despite the decline in stocks, the PSA said the total rice inventory during the period is equivalent to the rice-consumption requirement of Filipinos for 79 days.
“Stocks in the households would be good for 42 days, those in commercial warehouses for 27 days, and those in depositories of the National Food Authority [NFA] for 10 days,” the PSA said in its monthly report, titled “Rice and Corn Stocks Inventory February 2017”, published on May 11.
Of the rice inventory as of April 1, the PSA said 53.86 percent were with the households, 33.91 percent were in commercial warehouses and 12.23 percent were in NFA depositories. Almost 76 percent of NFA stocks consisted of imported rice.
PSA data showed that NFA stocks during the period reached 327,240 metric tons (MT), while commercial warehouses accounted for 907,360 MT. Households accounted for 1.44 MMT.
“Year-on-year, rice stocks in the households increased by 18.09 percent,” the report read.
“However, stocks in commercial warehouses and in NFA depositories decreased by 9.77 percent and 71.12 percent, respectively,” it added.
On a monthly basis, rice stocks in households and commercial warehouses were higher compared with their levels in March.
The PSA said stocks in the households rose by 25.05 percent, while stocks held in commercial warehouses grew 44.73 percent.
However, rice stocks in NFA depositories declined by 17.57 percent.
Data from the PSA showed that the total rice inventory as of April 1 was nearly 23 percent higher than the 2.18 MMT posted in March.
The government periodically monitors rice inventory to determine whether it would need to import the staple to boost local stocks.
During the period, PSA data showed that total corn-stock inventory tripled to 1.146 MMT, from last year’s record of 365,110 MT. The corn-stock inventory as of April 1 was also 6.35 percent higher than the 1.078 MMT recorded in March.
The PSA said the bulk of corn-stock inventory in April, or 88.08 percent, was in commercial warehouses, while households accounted for 11.37 percent. NFA depositories accounted for only 0.55 percent.
Corn stocks in commercial warehouses amounted to 1.01 MMT, 130,390 MT in households and 6,270 MT in NFA warehouses.
“Corn stocks in all sectors increased compared with their levels the previous year. Stocks in the households grew by 14.47 percent, in commercial warehouses by 302.88 percent and in NFA depositories by 1,211.09 percent,” the report read.
“Compared with the previous month, corn stocks in all sectors grew. Stocks in the households were up by 4.59 percent, in commercial warehouses by 6.50 percent and in NFA depositories by 21.01 percent,” it added.