The Department of Agriculture (DA) yesterday said that the National Food Authority (NFA) will proceed with its planned auction of up to 60,000 metric tons (MT) of aging rice stocks.
The DA explained, in a statement, that the move aligns with the government’s suspension of rice imports for two months, in a bid to lift palay prices during peak harvest.
The auction next month will serve multiple purposes, specifically to avert a possible supply shortfall, create warehouse space for fresh palay from local farmers, and dispose of rice nearing spoilage, the DA declared. .
The agency also reiterated that the auction will only proceed after the NFA offers the stocks first to government relief and other government agencies.
The agency also mentioned that the auction, scheduled in October, will serve multiple purposes such as averting a possible supply shortfall, creation of warehouse space for fresh palay from local farmers, and disposal of rice nearing spoilage.
At present, rice stocks are considered “aging” three months after milling.
DA further said that a graduated pricing scheme will be applied, with floor prices ranging from P27.96 to P25.01 per kg depending on the storage age of the rice.
“Make no mistake—we expect critics to pounce the moment we hold the auction,” Tiu Laurel said. “They’ll say the rice is weevil-infested, of poor quality, and accuse us of negligence. But this is the inevitable consequence of stripping the NFA of its full powers under the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).”
The agriculture secretary stressed that the RTL hinders the agency’s ability to rotate stocks promptly, and has stifled investment in proper storage infrastructure such as silos and temperature-controlled warehouses.
“Unless we’re allowed to manage our stocks more efficiently and invest in long-term storage, spoilage will continue to haunt us,” he warned.
The NFA currently holds a buffer stock of 450,000 MT that is sufficient for 12 days of emergency national supply.
DA said that the volume up for auction represents about 1.2 million sacks, or roughly 13 percent of the buffer.
Based on DA’s monitoring of public markets in the National Capital Region, local well-milled rice sold for P37 to P52 per kg on Wednesday (September 3) while regular milled rice went for P30 to P45 per kg.
Imported well-milled rice was selling for P40 to P50 per kg while the price of imported regular milled rice ranged from P32 to P45 per kg.
Special variety imported rice fetched P55 to P65 and premium rice, P40 to P52.
Special variety local rice was selling for P48 to P65 per kg while premium rice went for P40 to P60 per kg. The said varieties are priced based on their regular market price and are not subsidized.
