By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan
The head of a rice trading group in Iloilo said on Friday, April 4, that the maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) set by the national government on imported rice will primarily affect local rice traders during the off-season.
Ildefonso Dolorfino, president of the Iloilo Grain Millers and Traders Association, told Daily Guardian on Air that there is a disparity in price control between imported and local rice.
The Department of Agriculture began implementing a PHP45 per kilo MSRP on imported rice on March 31.
This marked the third reduction in price ceilings, following PHP58 per kilo in January and PHP55 in February.
“It seems that the economy is a bit abnormal regarding prices, because right now, imported rice prices are lower, but local rice prices are somehow under a free market, without price control,” Dolorfino said.
He expressed support for the government’s control on imported rice prices, suggesting it could lead to lower prices for local rice as well.
“I am in favor of the MSRP on imported rice, because local rice prices would follow the trend,” he said.
“Since we are in oversupply, retailers will have to lower their price ceilings.”
However, Dolorfino admitted that local traders will be impacted during the off-season.
He said they will not be able to increase prices as planned to recover debts from investing in higher inventory.
“We will be affected because we were supposed to increase prices,” he said.
“We wanted to increase our stock, so we capitalized on that, expecting that prices would also increase.”
“But with the current trend, we may face difficulties in the market.”
Dolorfino said prevailing prices for local rice range from PHP38 per kilo for lower-quality varieties to PHP40 for regular-quality rice, which is the most common.
He noted that while rice supply remains sufficient, sales have slowed due to the distribution of National Food Authority (NFA) rice and the Department of Agriculture’s Kadiwa program.
“We are very sufficient right now,” he said.
“We couldn’t even move because NFA rice continues to be distributed through Kadiwa outlets and by politicians requesting it for indigent families.”
Dolorfino also dismissed concerns about rice hoarding in Iloilo, citing sluggish sales.
“Rice hoarding isn’t applicable here because we’re already having difficulty selling,” he said.
“How can you hoard when you can’t even dispose of existing stock?”
He added that while hoarding may occur in other regions with larger traders, it is not a problem in Iloilo.
“For our group, there hasn’t been much sales,” he said.
“In other regions, there may be hoarding due to bigger traders, but in Iloilo, the capacity of local traders is sufficient only for the harvest season.”
