P49/kilo max SRP for imported rice starts March

A maximum suggested retail price (SRP) of P49 per kilo of imported rice will take effect on Saturday amid efforts to reduce rice e prices, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

- BELLA CARIASO

The rice max SRP will be implemented only in Metro Manila, key cities and other urban centers, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said yesterday.

"In many provincial areas, we've seen imported rice prices already lower than the max SRP, so we will apply it more selectively," he said.

Imposing a max SRP was necessary as the retail price of imported grains reached P64 per kilo despite a 20-percent tariff cut, Tiu Laurel noted.

"We will review the numbers in the coming days to determine if there's room to lower the max SRP further. As of now, there could be scope for additional reductions, but we'll have to see," he said.

Initially set at P58 per kilo on Jan. 20, the rice max SRP decreased to P55 per kilo on Feb. 5 and P52 per kilo on Feb. 15.

The landed cost of five-percent broken imported rice dropped to $490 per metric ton on Feb. 21, from $550 per MT.

The retail price of imported special rice ranged between P55 and P62 per kilo; imported premium rice, between P49 and P57 per kilo; imported well-milled rice, between P43 and P46 per kilo and imported regular-milled rice, between P36 and P46 per kilo, based on the DA's monitoring of Metro Manila markets.