THE Philippines’ rice inventory dropped sharply at the start of the year, but the Bureau of Agriculture Statistics (BAS) said that the country’s stock was still enough to cover domestic requirement until the next harvest season.
Based on its latest report, BAS said that the country’s rice stocks stood at 2.62 million metric tons (MT) at the start of January 2012, down by 23.3 percent from last year’s 3.42 million MT. The inventory was also 15.2 percent lower than the previous month’s level of 3.10 million MT.

“The total volume of rice stocks would be enough for 77 days with household stocks expected to last for 29 days, NFA [National Food Authority] depositories for 30 days, while those in commercial warehouses would last for 18 days,” it added.

BAS said that January’s stock levels in all sectors were lower than last month’s records. Stocks in the households were down by 22.5 percent and those in commercial warehouses by 15.1 percent, and stocks in NFA depositories, of which 57 percent were imported rice, dropped by 7 percent.

Meanwhile, total corn stock inventory was pegged at 166,100 MT, down by 6.2 percent below the previous month’s level of 177,100 MT, and 8.9 percent higher than last year’s record of 152,500 MT.

Compared to previous month’s stock position, holdings in January increased by 8.3 percent in the households. In contrast, stocks in commercial warehouses dropped by 13.1 percent, while there was no change in stocks held in NFA depositories from last month’s inventory.