By Mary Grace Padin
PURCHASES made by the private sector from abroad through the minimum access volume (MAV) scheme beefed up the country’s total rice inventory, data from the National Food Authority (NFA) showed.
The volume of rice imported by the NFA through a government-to-government scheme also increased the agency’s rice-stock inventory in its warehouses in preparation for El Niño.
According to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the total rice inventory in the country as of January 1, 2016 reached 3.2 million metric tons (MMT), which is sufficient to last for 93 days.
Of this volume, 965,400 MT is stored in commercial warehouses. This inventory is good for 28 days, the PSA said.
Household rice supply as of January reached 1.33 MMT – good for 39 days – while the total inventory in NFA warehouses reached 900,500 MT – good for 26 days.
Meanwhile, data from the NFA showed that as of February 11, the agency’s inventory reached 1.09 MMT, which is good for 43 days.
If this data is considered along with the PSA data, NFA Administrator Renan B. Dalisay said total rice inventory would reach 3.39 MMT, which is good for 105 days.
Data from the NFA showed that a total of 499,798.40 MT of rice brought by the private sector from abroad under the 2015 MAV rice-importation program arrived in the country as of January 31.
This is 98 percent of the total subscribed volume by the private sector, which was at 511,250 MT, the agency said.
About 257,652.70 MT of the total volume arrived came from Vietnam, while 241,745.70 MT was shipped from Thailand. Importers also delivered 400 MT of rice from India.
This volume arrived from the last quarter of 2015 until January 31, 2016, after the NFA extended the deadline of the arrivals of the rice shipments under the MAV program from the original date of November 30.
Dalisay said the remaining balance of 11,451.40 MT from the total volume can still be shipped to the Philippines. However, they will be considered as “late arrivals.”
He said the importers would have to appeal and state their reasons for the delay in shipments for the NFA to issue them with a Certificate of Completion for the shipments.
Data from the NFA also showed that the original subscribed volume under the agency’s MAV program was 612,400 MT.
Dalisay, however, told the BusinessMirror the volume was lowered to 511,250 MT due to noncompliance of requirements by the applicants, particularly the payment of the Advance Customs Duty with the Land Bank of the Philippines.
All rice imported under the 2015 MAV rice-importation program was levied with a tariff of 35 percent. The NFA said it did not issue the import permits to the applicants who failed the requirement and disqualified them from the program.
Meanwhile, Dalisay said about 397,750 MT of rice of the 500,000 MT contracted by the NFA last year in preparation for the ill effects of El Niño has already arrived in the country.
The agency is still awaiting the arrival of the remaining 102,250 MT of the total volume until March 31.
Dalisay said the 500,000 MT the NFA has procured is expected to cover the anticipated deficit in the country’s rice production brought about by El Niño.
Due to the sufficient inventory, the NFA earlier announced that the Philippines may no longer need to import an additional volume of rice in the first quarter of 2016.
According to the agency, the country’s rice inventory is still seen to be sufficient until the end of June this year.
Dalisay told the BusinessMirror the agency will continuously monitor the country’s rice inventory to determine whether rice imports would be needed to beef up supply during the lean months.
Data from the PSA showed the Philippines’s palay production for 2015 declined by 4.31 percent to 18.15 MMT from 18.97 MMT recorded in 2014.
The drop in unmilled-rice production was attributed to insufficient water supply, drought and strong typhoons.
Estimates from the PSA also showed that palay production for the first half of 2016 may reach 8.2 MMT, 1.48 percent lower than the 8.32 MMT posted in the same period in 2015.
Image credits: NONIE REYES