Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 20) — An agricultural group warns the per kilogram price of well-milled rice could reach ₱50 by the first week of November if the government will not reimpose its ₱45 cap on the commodity as some traders buy palay at high costs.
“Ang tingin natin baka lalong tumaas yung presyo ng palay kung hindi natin iimplement by November yung price cap na ₱45 kasi may mga traders na bumibili nasa ₱28 to ₱29 na palay,” Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) chairman Rosendo So told CNN Philippines’ The Source on Friday.
[Translation: We project palay price to further increase if the ₱45 price cap will not be implemented by November because there are traders who buy palay at ₱28 to ₱29.]
He noted this per kilogram price of palay or unhusked grains may translate to ₱50 per kilogram of rice in markets.
SINAG, which groups farm producers and suppliers, first made the call on Thursday, saying this will be “to pre-empt new attempts to artificially increase the retail price of rice.”
Without the cap, SINAG said the spikes in August could happen again where traders justified the increase in prices through the high farmgate cost of palay.
Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary Mercy Sombilla has said the government still needs to study the reimposition of a price cap, as well as look into other options.
Economists earlier criticized the rice price ceiling imposed by the government in September until early October. They said it was likely to lead to price distortion and fail to achieve the goal of taming inflation.
So said a possible reason behind the high buying price of palay is the additional cost of having to bring and mill supply from Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija to Isabela. He said this is probably being done because the produce from Isabela are not enough to fill the volume required.
Imposing the ₱45 price cap will help maintain the ₱25 per kilogram at the farmgate, which is still profitable for farmers, SINAG said.
So also said the expected 295,000 metric tons of rice from India will not be enough to bring down prices. He explained it will be better to focus more on improving local harvest since this imported supply will only last for nine days.
The SINAG chairman added that if farmers will be able to plant from October to December, there will be harvest from March to April next year, which will give the country enough supply until June or July.
