AGRICULTURE chief Francisco Tiu Laurel yesterday said he does not expect local prices of rice to go down until June or July due to India’s ongoing ban on rice imports.
“It’s very hard to make estimates now. Ang problema sa rice industry of the world, while bumaba na nang konti ang world market price, ang India meron pa rin silang export ban sa mundo sa bigas,” Laurel said in a televised briefing.
He added: “So until itong export ban nila ay ma-lift, I think itong prices will not yet drop considerably,” he added.
Laurel also said that despite the ongoing harvest season, the price of palay bought by rice traders remained “high”.
He, however, said that the National Food Authority (NFA) has procured buffer stocks despite competition with traders buying palay ranging from P27 to P31. NFA’s buying price for palay is at P23.
“Dahil sa taas ng presyo din ng palay ngayon na binibili ng traders, hindi masyadong makabili ang NFA eh. Not too much pero meron naman,” Laurel said.
Rice Imports
The US Department of Agriculture earlier projected that the Philippines would import as much as 4.1 million metric tons in 2024, as it expected smaller crop production for the year.
But the Agriculture department does not expect the country’s rice imports to hit 4 million metric tons due to a projected increase in rice production year despite the El Niño.
Laurel said they expected local rice production to reach as much as 4.78 million metric tons.
“After naman ng El Niño we expect okay naman ang harvest and hopefully ang La Niña hindi kalaki ang effect… We are hoping na may konting increase ang production din natin ng rice for this year 2024,” Laurel said.
“So ‘yung estimate ng USDA in my opinion ay medyo mataas, I think that’s the worst case scenario and I think hindi aabot doon,” he added. (ABS-CBN News)
