THE national inventory of rice and corn declined at the start of March, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.
In its inventory report, the PSA said the rice inventory was 1.41 million metric tons (MT) at the start of the month, down 13.7% year on year.
Rice held by households, which accounted for 57.6% of the total, fell 6.2% to 811.52 thousand MT.
About 494.25 thousand MT were stored in commercial warehouses, down 19.2%, and equivalent to 35.1% of the overall rice inventory.
Stocks held by National Food Authority (NFA) depositories, which accounted for 7.3% of the national total, decreased 33.9% to 103.07 thousand MT.
Compared to a month earlier, the national rice inventory fell 7.5%.
“With reference to the previous month, rice stocks exhibited month-on-month reduction in the household sector by 7.5%, in commercial sector by 8.7%, and in NFA depositories by 1.6%,” the PSA said.
In the same report, the PSA said the corn inventory fell 29.1% year on year to 317.86 thousand MT.
During the period, corn held by households declined 33.9% to 78.06 thousand MT. Households accounted for 24.6% of the national inventory.
Commercial corn stocks, which accounted for 75.4% of the national inventory, declined 27.4% to 239.80 thousand MT.
On a month-on-month basis, the corn inventory dropped 13.2%.
“Relative to the previous month’s inventory level, corn stocks in the commercial sector recorded a decrement of 17.7% during the month,” the PSA said.
On the other hand, corn held by households grew by 3.9% month on month, the PSA added. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera