Palay prices hit highest in 7 weeks

Palay prices picked up during the first week of December, registering the highest average quotation in seven weeks, according to government data.

Based on the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) weekly price monitoring report, the average farm-gate price increased to P15.97 a kilo during the period from the previous week’s P15.84 a kilo.

The highest quotation was recorded in Nueva Ecija at P22 a kilo—considered as the country’s rice granary—while the lowest was in Quezon province at P10.71 a kilo where a series of typhoons hit last month.

It was in May when palay prices peaked at P19 a kilo following the surge in the demand for rice. The string of lockdowns prompted both the private and public sectors to distribute relief packs with rice.

But the series of typhoons, the simultaneous arrival of imports as well as transport constraints, however, led prices to decline anew.

The passage of the rice tariffication law is not expected to increase the prices of palay, but it promised to lower the cost of producing the staple to levels that are competitive against rates in Vietnam and Thailand where the country mostly sources its imports.