P40/kilo rice not achievable – FFF

MANILA, Philippines — The retail price of rice will not return to its previous level of P40 per kilo as the prevailing cost in the market remains high, farmers’ group Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) national manager Raul Montemayor said yesterday.

The landed cost of imported rice averaged between P45 and P50 per kilo, Montemayor said in a radio interview.

“The retail price of rice will not decrease that much, it will depend on the trading in the international market,” he noted.

Imported rice in the international market went down to $570 per metric ton from the previous $630 per MT, he added.

“We will depend on the rice importation but based on our computation with tax paid, it’s between P45 and P50 per kilo. It will depend on how much it will be sold by the traders,” he said.

“The government should determine who takes advantage most as the increase in the retail price of rice is caused by the middlemen and based on what we received retailers have the biggest profit, they are earning too much,” he added.

Local harvest will be delayed amid El Niño’s impact, he said.

“There is no rain, that’s why farmers cannot plant. The nearest harvest will be late September up to October. We will depend mostly on imported rice,” he explained.

The annual shortfall in rice supply is only pegged at two million MT but the country’s rice importation reaches as high as four million MT, Montemayor noted.

“Because of the flooding of imported rice, the farmgate price of palay drops. It discourages farmers from planting. We will be too dependent on importation if farmers will not plant,” he said.

In 2023, the country’s rice imports totaled 3.6 million MT.

The retail prices of well-milled rice remain stable between P50 and P52 per kilo and no movement in its cost was observed in past months, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

“We don’t see a spike (in the retail prices) as for the last how many months, the retail price of well-milled rice was between P50 and P52 and until now, it ranges from P50 to P52 (per kilo),” Agriculture Assistant Secretary and spokesman Arnel de Mesa told The STAR.

Based on DA’s monitoring of Metro Manila markets, the retail price of local regular