The average farm-gate price of unmilled rice at the start of the lean season for the staple in the Philippines rose by 10.61 percent to P21.48 per kilogram, from P19.42 per kg recorded a year ago.
The farm-gate price of palay as of the first week of July is the second-highest average palay quotation recorded in the country’s rice-production history, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data compiled by the BusinessMirror showed.
Preliminary data released by the PSA on Thursday showed that the latest average farm-gate price of palay as of the first week of July is just P0.05 away from matching the highest quotation of P21.53 per kg recorded in the fourth week of July until the first week of August in 2014.
“The average farm-gate price of palay at P21.48/kg posted an increment of 0.42 percent, from previous week’s level of P21.39/kg,” the PSA said in its price-monitoring report, titled “Updates on Palay, Rice, and Corn Prices,” published on Thursday.
During the survey period of July 4 to 10, the PSA observed the highest farm-gate price of
palay in South Cotabato at P25.08 per kg. The lowest was recorded in Compostela Valley at
P18 per kg.
Industry and government sources told the BusinessMirror that the average quotation of palay could breach P22 per kg and set a new record-high during the lean season, which runs from July to September. The country’s rice harvest declines significantly during the
lean months.
The highest average quotation of palay of P21.53 per kg was recorded during the middle of the lean season of 2014.
In fact, the price-monitoring report of the PSA showed that some regions have already breached the P22-per-kg average quotation.
For example, the buying price of palay in Ilocos region averaged P22.50 per kg, while the average quotation in Central Luzon—the country’s rice granary—reached P22.43 per kg.
Both the prices of well-milled rice and regular-milled rice at the retail and wholesale level posted increments, according to the PSA.
“During the week, the average wholesale price of well-milled rice at P41.87/kg picked up at a slower rate of 0.22 percent, from a week-ago level. It moved upward by 7.52 percent, from previous year’s price of P38.94/kg,” the PSA said.
“The average price of regular milled rice at P38.39/kg during the week posted an increase of 0.36 percent, from previous week’s level. It also went up by 9.98 percent, from a year-ago quotation of P35.18/kg,” it added.
In a report, the PSA said unmilled rice production in the first half of the year likely rose by 1.2 percent to 8.67 million metric tons, from the previous year’s 8.57 MMT.
Despite the slight contraction in yield per hectare to 4.08 metric tons, from 4.09 MT last year, the PSA said harvest area may expand to 2.12 million hectares in the January-to-June period, from the 2017 record of 2.1 million hectares.
Based on farmers’ planting intentions, the PSA also said production in the July-to-September period may post a slight decline due to the farmer’s anticipation of the late onset of rainfall.
Image credits: Leonardo Perante II