Price of palay down as gov’t projects lower Q1 yield

MANILA, Philippines – The average farmgate price for palay, or unhusked rice, dropped as the 1st quarter nears its end, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.

As of the first week of March, the average farmgate price for palay saw a week-on-week decrease of 0.77% to P19.40 per kilogram (kg). Year-on-year, this is also 4.06% lower than the recorded average price of P22.22 per kg.

But according to the PSA, the average prices for both well-milled and regular milled rice are still higher year-on-year. On a weekly comparison, prices are slightly lower. (READ: FAST FACTS: Rice prices in the Philippines)

Compared to a year ago, the average retail price for well-milled rice posted an increase of 1.11% to P41.13 per kg, while the average retail price for regular milled rice also grew by 2.47% to P44.45 per kg.

In a separate report, the PSA said that the probable palay production for the first 3 months of 2019 may post a slight decrease to 4.62 million metric tons (MT) from the January round estimate of 4.65 million MT. (READ: Rice inventory up in February 2019 from a year ago)

This is roughly around the same yield from the same period last year, due to an expected 3.3% contraction in the harvest area from 1.19 million hectares. The PSA did not make mention of any effects from El Niño.

However, this is expected to be offset by a slight increase in yield per hectare from 3.87 MT last year to 4 MT. – Rappler.com