NFA buys 120K MT of palay in a month

MANILA, Philippines —  The National Food Authority (NFA) beefed up its rice buffer stock after it purchased over 120,000 metric tons of palay or unmilled rice from local farmers since raising buying prices last month.

In a statement, the NFA said it bought 2.41 million of 50-kilogram bags or about 120,500 MT from April 17 to May 15 as a result of its new procurement price range of P23 to P30 per kilogram for dry and clean palay.

Prior to the increase, the NFA was only able to procure some 142,244 50-kilogram bags of palay or 7,122.2 MT between Jan. 1 and April 15.

According to NFA, the new buying prices have allowed it to compete with private traders and beef up its buffer stock. The NFA used to buy clean and dry palay between P19 to P23 per kilogram prior to the price increase

In total, the NFA said it has procured 2.5 million bags of palay from Jan. 1 to May 15, reaching almost 83 percent of its target procurement of 3.08 million bags for the period.

“We’re still aiming to hit that target since there are other areas like Bulacan where farmers haven’t completed their rice harvest,” said NFA acting administrator Larry Lacson yesterday.

“The new price scheme is really the game changer,” Lacson added.

The NFA said its milled rice stocks as of May 15 reached 111,720 MT, up 14.6 percent year-on-year.

The grains agency failed to meet its procurement target in the first quarter after purchasing only 6.48 percent of its 1.34 million bags or 67,145 MT goal.

The NFA bought only 87,067 bags or 4,353 MT from January to March, about 71 percent lower than the 301,770 bags or 15,088 MT it procured in the same period of last year.

“The low procurement can be attributed to the active participation of traders offering higher farm gate price that is above the government support / buying price,” the NFA said in its latest accomplishment report.