A worker arranges sacks of rice at a local rice store in Quezon City on October 4, 2023.

MANILA, Philippines —  At least 18,463 metric tons of imported rice from Vietnam, Thailand and Pakistan arrived in the Philippines as of Jan. 4, according to the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).

Based on BPI’s latest data, the bulk of imported rice came from Vietnam, 11,423 MT; followed by Thailand, 6,500 MT and Pakistan, 540 MT.

The total imported rice arrival in 2023 reached 3.567 million MT, which was seven percent lower than the total importation in 2022 of 3.826 million MT.

The BPI, an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA), issues sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance (SPSIC) to importers.

At least 5,460 SPSICs were issued in 2023, with a total volume of 4.825 million MT.

As for the upward trend in the retail price of rice, the DA said it will continue due to the high cost of the grains in the international market.

Agriculture officer-in-charge for operations Undersecretary Roger Navarro said at least 495,000 MT of imported rice from Taiwan and India will arrive starting this month until February in preparation for the possible impact of El Niño on palay production.

The country’s daily rice consumption is pegged at 36,000 MT per day or 1.08 million MT monthly.

Based on DA’s monitoring of Metro Manila markets, the retail price of local regular milled rice was as high as P53 per kilo; local well-milled rice, P55 per kilo; local premium rice, P62 per kilo; local special rice, P68 per kilo; imported well-milled rice, P58 per kilo; imported premium rice, P62 per kilo and imported special rice, P65 per kilo.

Suggested  retail price

Meanwhile, Central Luzon rice traders and farmer leaders expressed apprehension over the proposed suggested retail price (SRP) of rice, which Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said could be released next week.

Anonymous traders from the Intercity Industrial Estate and Golden City Business Park in Bocaue and Balagtas towns in Bulacan claimed that the proposal made rice retailers, wholesalers and farmers jittery.

Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura president Rosendo So told The STAR that the landed cost of imported rice from Vietnam and Thailand is $625 per metric ton or P50 per kilogram net for rice importers, which leads to the high retail cost of imported rice in the local market.

Federation of Free Farmers national manager Raul Montemayor said the SRP should be based on local palay costs plus reasonable margins of profit for traders, millers, wholesalers and retailers.

Regional Farmers Action Council chairman in Central Luzon Eugene Ramirez told The STAR the SRP should be based on the P25-27 per kilo market price of local palay due to its high production cost. –Sheila Crisostomo, Ramon Efren Lazaro

Published Date: January 10, 2024