Rice inventory up 6.5% as of Oct. 1 

THE rice inventory at the beginning of October increased 6.5% year on year to 2.08 million metric tons (MT), according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

In a report issued Nov. 25, the PSA said that month on month, the October rice inventory rose 43.5%.

Rice held by households as of Oct. 1 rose 10.7% year on year to 1.17 million MT while inventory held by commercial warehouses, wholesalers, and retailers increased 9.5% to 798,120 MT.

Stocks held by National Food Authority (NFA) depositories fell 33.2% to 111,040 MT.

Compared to September levels, the PSA said that household rice rose 65.1% while inventory held by commercial warehouses rose 27.1%. NFA stocks dropped 1.2%.

“As of Oct. 1, 2022, 56.3% of the total rice stocks were from households, 38.3% from commercial warehouses/wholesalers/retailers, and 5.3% from NFA depositories,” the PSA said.

Meanwhile, the PSA said that total corn stocks increased 40.2% year on year to 720,600 MT as of Oct. 1.

Month on month, corn stocks rose 28.3%.

During the period, corn held by households dropped 1.5% year on year to 210,040 MT while stocks held by commercial warehouses rose 69.8% to 510,570 MT.

Compared to September, corn held by households rose 119.4% while commercial warehouse inventories rose 9.6%.

“Of this month’s total corn stocks inventory, 70.9% were from commercial warehouses/wholesalers/retailers, and 29.1% were from the households,” the PSA said.  — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave