In April, Duterte ordered the National Food Authority (NFA) to build up its depleted rice stockpiles to the equivalent of 60 days of national consumption, or about 1.92 million tonnes. The NFA has so far bought 500,000 tonnes mostly from Vietnam andThailand and is set to import an additional volume of up to 805,200 tonnes. Lower prices Duterte said on Wednesday he wants NFA warehouses to be filled ―up to the ceiling‖ with rice. ―I do not care if we have to sell it at a lower price someday if there‘s a glut in the market,‖ he said. Retail rice prices in the Philippines have risen steadily since the start of the year due to the absence of government-subsidized supply in the market. This has fed inflation which hit its highest level in at least five years in May. https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50501449/philippines-unlikely-to-be-rice-sufficient/
Vietnam prices ease from multi-
year highs, India rice rates nudge up By Reuters June 15, 2018 | 03:23 pm GMT+7
Indian farmers working on rice field. Photo by Reuters
Vietnamese rice fell this week after climbing to the highest since January 2012 the week before. Rates for India‘s 5 percent broken parboiled variety rose by $5 to $398-$402 per tonne this week, after hitting the lowest level for the year last week due to sluggish demand from neighbouring Bangladesh. India was the biggest supplier of rice to Bangladesh in 2017. Imports by Bangladesh will likely slow as the government imposed a 28 percent tax on rice imports to support its farmers after local production revived. ―Last year, Bangladesh was buying a lot of Indian rice. With new duty, imports would fall,‖ said M. Adishankar, executive director at Sri Lalitha, a leading rice exporter located in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. ―Chinese imports will boost demand but we don‘t know when it will happen.‖ China last week agreed to amend a protocol on phytosanitary requirements, which will allow Indian exporters to ship non-basmati rice to Beijing. The monsoon has not been progressing well and could delay planting of summer-sown rice, said another exporter based at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.