BY IRMA ISIP
PRICES of well-milled rice should go down to
P35 to P37 a kilo in two weeks from the current price of at
least P40 a kilo, government said yesterday.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said millers
have committed to sell at P33 per kilo.
He also said stocks of the National Food
Authority are good for 33 days. With the NFA stocks and an offer
from Thailand to supply the Philippines with its buffer stock,
prices should stabilize, he said.
Trade Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya said
consumers should see the P35 to P37 a kilo rice in public
markets in two weeks.
The NFA said it is injecting the domestic
market with six to eight million bags of rice a month in the
next three to four months to stabilize commercial prices at the
per-kilo range of P35 to P37.
Yap said the Philippines is negotiating with
the Vietnamese government about buying an unspecified quantity
of rice, taking advantage of a recent drop in international
prices to boost stocks of its national staple.
He said government has asked eight countries
to submit offers but only Hanoi returned with terms.
Yap declined to say what volume or price was
under discussion but said Manila was holding out for better
conditions and would make a decision on a deal within seven
days.
"We are satisfied with the offer, the price
is reasonable but we would like to see if we could negotiate for
better terms," he said.
The Philippines and Vietnam have already
signed an agreement for Vietnamese traders to supply up to 1.5
million tons of rice for this year but the Vietnamese government
has previously said only around 1 million may be possible due to
rising food inflation at home.
The Philippines has so far has bought around
1.7 million tons of rice from overseas sources, mainly Vietnam
and Thailand, at a total cost of around $1 billion. It wants to
import around 2.1 million tons for this year.
Maglaya said the trade department is eyeing
the imposition of price controls on canned goods.
She said manufacturers of canned goods have
been told to explain why they increased prices this week by as
much as P2 a can without informing the DTI and furnishing it
with suggested retail prices, a practice observed each time
adjustments are made.
Fish and processed meat canners have pointed
to rising prices of tin cans as the reason for the increase.
But Maglaya said even the Tin Can
Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. find the P2 increase too
high. She said the increase should just be 25 to 50 centavos a
can.
Most of the overpriced canned goods are being
sold in public markets.
The last time canned foods prices went up was
in early May, by 25 centavos, due to high prices of tin cans.
Maglaya said flour millers might also be
investigated following complaints of overprice from bakers.
She said bakers wrote Trade Secretary Peter Favila asking for
a reduction in the price of flour, which now costs P910 to P980
per 25-kilogram bag. - With Randy Nobleza and Reuters
