NFA Sells 32.5 Million Kilos of Aged Rice in One Day, Rakes In Nearly ₱1 Billion — and Opens Warehouse Space for Farmers
The National Food Authority just pulled off a massive rice stock clearance sale — selling nearly 90 percent of its aged rice inventory in a single auction on Friday and raising ₱963.5 million, exceeding the ₱912.4 million target.
NFA Administrator Larry Lacson said they sold 32.5 million kilos of rice at an average price of ₱28 per kilo. A total of 737,339 bags (50 kg each) were up for auction, consisting of stocks stored between three and 18 months. Floor prices ranged from ₱22.52/kg for the oldest stocks to ₱25.16/kg for newer ones.
The NFA received bids for 57 of the 83 lots, equivalent to 604,364 bags or 88 percent of the total volume. The fact that the average sale price of ₱28/kg was higher than floor prices showed strong demand — even for aged rice, buyers were willing to pay up.
But Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the bigger win isn’t the revenue — it’s the warehouse space. ‘More important than the revenue the auction raised is the space it cleared in warehouses, which will allow NFA to buy more palay from our farmers at a fair price,’ he said.
With the dry harvest season peaking between April and May, palay will be purchased at a minimum of ₱17/kg for fresh and wet harvests, and ₱21/kg for clean and dry ones. Good news for farmers, good news for rice supply — win-win talaga.
Source: The Manila Times
