The average farm-gate price of unmilled rice rose for the eighth straight week and breached P20 per kilogram for the first time in nearly three years, according to the latest data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
In its weekly price monitoring report, the PSA said the average farm-gate price of palay as of the fourth week of February rose by 0.50 percent to P20.03 per kg, from the previous week’s quotation of P19.93 per kg.
“This was lower from its previous week’s markup of 1.53 percent,” the PSA said in the report published on February 8. “Relative to the previous year’s price of P18.47 per kg, it was higher by 8.45 percent.”
From February 21 to 27, the PSA said the highest average farm-gate price of paddy was recorded in Davao del Sur at P25 per kg. The lowest was recorded in Agusan del Sur at P15 per kg.
According to data from the PSA, the last time the farm-gate price of paddy breached P20 per kg was in 2015, when the Philippines was hit by El Niño. That year, rice output declined by 4.31 percent to 18.14 million metric tons, from 18.96 MMT recorded in 2014.
Data from the PSA also showed the retail price of well-milled rice during the period rose to an eight-week high of P43.24 per kg. The price was 0.32 percent higher than the P43.10 per kg recorded last week and 3.87 percent more than the previous year’s P41.63 per kg.
“At the wholesale trade, the average price of well-milled rice at P40.47 per kg posted an uptick of 0.35 percent from a week ago,” the PSA said.
“The rate was lower compared to the 0.90-percent increase in the previous week. Meanwhile, it recorded a 5.04-percent markup from previous year’s price of P38.53 per kg,” it added.
The retail price of regular-milled rice also remained above the P39-per-kg price, posting an eight-week high quotation of P39.38, PSA data showed.
“At the retail trade, the average price of regular-milled rice at P39.38 per kg rose by 0.18 percent during the week, lower than the 0.46-percent markup recorded in the previous week. Relative to a year-ago price of P37.10 per kg, it picked up
by 6.15 percent,” the PSA said.
At the wholesale level, the price of regular-milled rice pegged at P36.93 per kg inched up by 0.08 percent, from the previous week’s P36.90 per kg.
“It was lower than the 0.82-percent gain in the previous week,” the PSA said. “Compared to the previous year’s level, it went up by 6.52 percent.”