The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Negros Oriental said on Saturday that prices of premium rice dropped slightly, while regular and well-milled rice remained unchanged in the province.
DTI-Negros Oriental Director Nimfa Virtucio told the Philippine News Agency that the latest price monitoring this week showed slight decrease in imported rice prices sold in bigger supermarkets and grocery stores.
“Our monitoring team reported that six of the 16 brands of premium rice in our list dropped between PHP2 and PHP4 a kilo within a week,” she said.
Currently, premium rice prices monitored range from a low of PHP53.72 a kilo to a high of PHP60.40 a kilo, she added.
Virtucio attributed the slight adjustment to ample supply in the province, owing to two importations this year from Vietnam comprising more than 6,000 metric tons or more than 160,000 bags as reported by the Department of Agriculture (DA).
She confirmed an earlier report where rice traders said they sell imported rice for around PHP200 per 50-kilo bag, lower than in previous weeks.
Meanwhile, social media posts showed the prices of regular and well-milled rice are still between PHP40 and PHP50 a kilo.
Virtucio said that while the DA is tasked to monitor the prices of regular and well-milled rice, the DTI also sometimes receives reports.
She said inadequate local rice production in Negros Oriental may have contributed to unchanged prices of regular and well-milled rice. (Judy F. Partlow/PNA)
