Rice stocks up, corn inventory down in May

The Philippines' rice stocks in May are sufficient for 77 days, the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics said Monday.

Of the total, household stocks accounted for 46 percent, covering requirements for 35 days. Stocks in commercial warehouses made up 31 percent, enough for 24 days. The National Food Authority's stocks in warehouse made up 23 percent of the total, enough for 18 days.

As of May 1, the country's total rice stock inventory was placed at 2.61 million metric tons (MT), a 12.3-percent increase month-on-month from 2.33 MT in April. However, the amount is 2.2 percent down year-on-year.

Month to month, household stocks grew 12.4 percent and commercial warehouse stocks by 18.8 percent. In NFA depositories, the volume was up 4.7 percent. Twenty percent of NFA stocks are imported.

Year-on-year, household stocks increased by 1.6 percent and commercial warehouse stocks by 0.04 percent. NFA stocks declined by 11.4 percent.

As of May 1, the total corn stock inventory was estimated at 230,800 MT, down 22.8 percent from April 1's level of 299,100 MT. However, the volume is still 12.8 percent more than the inventory of 204,700 MT in the same period in 2012.

Of the current stock level, about 22 percent were with households and 77 percent were in commercial warehouses. The rest were in NFA depositories. — BM, GMA News