The country’s rice stocks inventory was estimated at 1.61 million metric tons at the start of March, an 18 percent increase from the 1.37 million metric tons recorded in the same period last year.
The beginning of March rice stocks, however, were nearly 20 percent lower than the 2.01 million metric tons posted in February, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The rice stocks held by National Food Authority (NFA) rose sharply to 299,860 metric tons at the start of March, seven times more than the 41,290 metric tons from the year-earlier period and up from 289,100 metric tons at the start of February due to aggressive palay procurement.
In contrast, the commercial sector experienced a 16 percent decrease to 527,780 metric tons in its beginning March rice inventory compared to the level in the year-earlier period. The beginning March figure was down 43 percent from the beginning February level. Households saw a 13 percent year-on-year increase to 784,500 metric tons at the start of March.
By volume, 48.7 percent of the country’s total rice stocks in March came from households, while 32.7 percent were sourced from the commercial sector, and 18.6 percent came from the NFA.
The country’s total corn stocks inventory reached 368,510 metric tons at the beginning of March. This marked decline of 33 percent from 546,890 metric tons in the same period of 2024. Month-on-month, corn stocks fell by 18.3 percent, compared to February’s 451,190 metric tons.
The commercial sector saw a 36 percent annual decrease in corn stocks, while households recorded a slight 0.9 percent slide. However, compared to February, corn stocks from households rose by 14 percent, while the commercial sector’s inventory declined by 22 percent. In total, 85.6 percent of the March corn stocks came from the commercial sector, with the remainder from households.
