Philippines rice stocks up, but corn cache down

The Philippines’ rice stockpile increased by 6.4 per cent as of Jan. 1 from the past year due to the more aggressive buying policy of the government, while corn inventory declined by 45 per cent as farmers shifted to tobacco planting. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the country’s overall rice inventory totaled 2.16 million metric tons (MT) as of Jan. 1, higher than 2.03 million MT a year ago. The total rice stocks estimated by the statistics agency, however, were 15.7 per cent lower than the 2.56 million MT recorded in December. During the reporting period, the PSA said households and National Food Authority (NFA) depositories registered increases while the commercial sector reduced inventory. Households accounted for 48.9 per cent of total stocks, 5.4 per cent higher than the year prior. Although NFA depositories held a share of only 13.2 per cent, its inventory surged by 485.1 per cent to 284,810 MT. NFA administrator Larry Lacson said the agency’s ...