THE country’s rice stocks fell 8 percent year on year in September, while corn inventories rose 47 percent, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Monday.
Rice stocks totaled 1.91 million metric tons (MT) as of Sept. 1, down from 2.07 million MT a year earlier and 12.4 percent below August’s 2.18 million MT.
Stocks held by the National Food Authority ( A) dwindled by 36.1 percent year on year, while household inventories marginally dropped 0.6 percent. Commercial stocks edged up 0.1 percent.
Compared with August, commercial inventories shrank 21 percent, A stocks lessened 6.6 percent and household stocks diminished by 3.8 percent.
The commercial sector accounted for 42.8 percent of total rice stocks, followed by households, 42.2 percent; and A warehouses, 15 percent.
Corn inventories, meanwhile, reached about 816,460 MT as of Sept. 1, up from 555,400 MT a year earlier but down 1.5 percent from August’s 829,300 MT.
Household corn stocks rose 55.8 percent year on year, while commercial inventories increased 46.1 percent.
Compared with August, household stocks fell 28.7 percent, while commercial inventories grew 2.8 percent.
The commercial sector held 90 percent of total corn stocks, with households accounting for the remaining 10 percent.
