Rice prices are projected to drop further in the coming months due to government interventions, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.
In a news forum over the weekend, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said they expect rice prices to drop according to the DA’s market monitoring.
“Sa bigas hindi pa naman siguro dahil kita naman natin na mayroon pang ibababa ang presyo ng bigas. Iyong pag-check namin sa pamilihan, iyong regular milled rice na imported nasa 42 pesos at iyong well-milled rice ay nasa 45 pesos. Hangad natin na mas bumaba pa ito sa level ng 30’s hopefully in the next coming months,” said De Mesa.
“So, iyong January to June na importation natin, on average nasa more than 400,000 per metric tons. Iyong July hanggang September, on average nasa mga 300,000 metric tons. So, karamihan din ng bigas imported natin, darating din iyan last quarter of the year in preparation for the lean season bago mag-anihan nitong March-April of next year,” he added.
One positive development, according to the DA official, is the recent easing of rice export restriction by India, a source of Non-Basmati White Rice.
Despite the imposition of US$490 per metric ton minimum export rice (MEP) by the Indian government, De Mesa said it is still lower.
The DA monitoring also showed that Vietnam’s 25 percent broken rice hovers from US$525 to US$545 per metric ton.
“So malaki iyong magiging epekto pa rin nitong pag-alis ng pagbabawal ng Indian government doon sa pag-export ng Non-Basmati White Rice. So, ito, mararamdaman pa sa mga susunod na panahon,” the assistant secretary said.IMT
