The Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Thursday that the country’s total rice stocks reached 2.46 million metric tons at the end of November, a 24 percent increase from the 1.98 million metric tons recorded in the same month last year.
The rise in rice stocks was largely driven by increased imports, spurred by lower global prices for rice and a significant reduction in tariffs to 15 percent from 35 percent, which took effect in July. Compared to October’s rice stocks, the inventory grew by 7.9 percent, from 2.28 million metric tons.
The November rice stock inventory showed substantial annual increases: stocks from the National Food Authority depositories rose by 135 percent, while the commercial sector saw a 57 percent increase. However, rice stocks from the household sector dropped by 11 percent year-on-year.
From October to November, the commercial sector’s rice stocks grew by 17 percent, while household inventories saw a modest 0.3 percent increase. The NFA’s stocks decreased by nearly 18 percent due to the agency’s recent drawdown to support typhoon relief operations.
As of November, 58 percent of the total rice stocks came from the commercial sector, 37 percent from households, and 5.8 percent from NFA depositories.
Meanwhile, total corn stocks stood at 619,160 metric tons in November, down 21 percent from the previous year and 15 percent lower than October levels.
