THE national rice inventory fell 8% year on year as of Sept. 1, while corn stocks rose 47%, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported.

The rice inventory was estimated at 1.91 million metric tons (MMT), down from 2.07 MMT a year earlier. They were also 12.4% lower than the August estimate of 2.18 MMT.

The month-on-month decline was driven mostly by the commercial sector, whose stocks fell 21% to 816.44 thousand MT.  Stocks held by the National Food Authority (NFA) fell 6.6%, while household stocks fell 3.8%.

Year on year, NFA inventories fell 36.1% to 286.58 thousand MT. Household stocks were down 0.6%, while commercial holdings were up 0.1%.

Commercial entities accounted for 42.8% of the rice inventory, households 42.2%, and the NFA 15%.

Corn stocks totaled 816.46 thousand MT, up from 555.40 thousand MT a year earlier. However, they were 1.5% below August levels.

Corn held by households were up 55.8%, while commercial inventories were up 46.1%.

Compared with August, household corn stocks fell 28.7%, while commercial stocks rose 2.8%. The commercial sector held about 90% of corn.

The NFA held no corn during the period. — Moureen Ylessandra B. Dizon

Published Date: October 6, 2026