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Philippine rice stocks decline 25 percent in December

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ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Workers repack their rice products for sale at the Pasig City Mega Market on July 5, 2022. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News file photo" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2024/news/01/23/20220705-rice-pasig-market-gc-1.jpg"/><figcaption>Workers repack their rice products for sale at the Pasig City Mega Market on July 5, 2022. G<em>eorge Calvelo, ABS-CBN News file photo</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA (<strong>UPDATED</strong>) — Philippine rice stocks declined in December, the state statistics bureau said Tuesday.</p><p>In a statement, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the country&#x27;s rice inventory was at 1.9 million metric tons as of December 1. This number is 25.2 percent lower than the 2.53 million metric tons recorded in December 2022.</p><p>Rice stocks declined in all sectors across the Philippines. In depositories of the National Food Authority (NFA), stocks were down by 54.4 percent. In the household sector, stocks decreased by 33.2 percent.</p><p>In the commercial sector, stocks also fell by 8.7 percent.</p><p>In December, 52.1 percent of the country&#x27;s total rice stock was with households. The PSA said 44.9 percent were in the commercial sector, and 3 percent were in the NFA depositories. </p><p>However, the Philippines is projected to remain at the top of the list of global rice importers.</p><p>The United States Department of Agriculture said the Philippines is projected to import 3.8 million metric tons of rice this year, exceeding the 3.22 million metric tons it collected in 2023.</p><p>The Philippines was followed by China, Indonesia, the European Union, Nigeria, and Iraq.</p><p>Philippines overtook China as world&#x27;s top importer of rice in September of 2023.</p><p>Local agriculture industry group SINAG, however, said the Philippines may only be importing between 3.2 to 3.3 million metric tons.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/business/01/23/24/industry-group-doubts-usda-forecast-on-ph-rice-imports">Industry group says PH may not need to import as much rice as USDA forecast</a></li></ul><div><strong>Imports</strong></div><p>The Department of Agriculture (DA) said imported rice will be arriving next month to boost the country&#x27;s supply.</p><p>&quot;Hindi natin dine-deny na maraming import na bigas ang Pilipinas,&quot; said DA spokesperson Arnel de Mesa.</p><p>&quot;Depende this year, kasi we have to remember may El Niño tayo ngayon na pwedeng maging challenge sa production, ang pangunahing layunin ng kagawaran, masigurado na mayroong sapat na bigas,&quot; he added.</p><p>SINAG meanwhile said El Niño is more concerning.</p><p>&quot;Sa tingin natin, wala tayong problema sa stocks hanggang this month at next month. Worried tayo sa magiging harvest natin sa ngayon because of possible impact of El Nino,&quot; Sinag executive director Jayson Cainglet said.</p><p>&quot;May mga reports na Central Luzon, nagwo-worry ang farmers kasi medyo madalang ang ulan, di alam kung sasapat yun. Yun ang dapat bigyan ng diin kase Central Luzon contributes to 20 percent of total rice production,&quot; Cainglet added.</p><div><strong>Corn stocks rise</strong></div><p>Meanwhile, the PSA said corn stocks in the Philippines reached 685,890 metric tons in December, up 51.1 percent from the 454,030 in December 2022.</p><p>Corn stocks in the commercial sector increased by 51.4 percent, while those in households grew by 49.4 percent.</p><p>About 82.8 percent of total corn stocks in December were from the commercial sector, while the remaining 17.2 percent were in households.</p><div><strong>RELATED STORY:</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2798609" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div><strong>—With reports from Jervis Manahan, ABS-CBN News</strong></div>