Palay farmgate price rises 0.1% in mid-December

THE average farmgate price of palay, or unmilled rice, rose 0.1% week-on-week in the second week of December to P15.64 per kilogram (kg), the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

According to PSA’s weekly palay and corn price update, the average wholesale price of well-milled rice dropped 0.1%, week-on-week to P37.18 per kg, while retail prices climbed 0.02% to P41.45.

The average wholesale price of regular-milled rice fell 0.1% week-on-week to P33.05 per kg, while retail prices fell 0.1% to P36.55.

Palay prices generally weakened in 2019. Year-on-year, the price of palay, the form in which farmers sell their harvest, declined 21.9%. The weakening of prices followed the implementation of the Rice Tariffication Law in March, which removed most restrictions on imported rice.

The average farmgate price of yellow corn grain rose 2% week-on-week, to P12.16 per kg. The average wholesale price rose 0.3% to P21.36. The retail price was stable at P25.86.

The farmgate price of white corn grain averaged P13.22 per kg, down 0.2% week-on-week. The average wholesale price fell 0.6% to P16.90, while the average retail price declined 0.2% to P26.70. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang