By Erwin Nicavera/PNA
BACOLOD CITY — The National Food Authority (NFA) in Negros Occidental has a total inventory of 177,455 bags of imported rice.
Frisco Canoy, provincial manager of NFA-Negros Occidental, said as of Monday, the supply includes the PHP27 per kilogram government rice stocked in NFA warehouses and distributed to local traders and retailers.
The stocks comprise of 159,739 bags from Myanmar, 6,000 bags from Vietnam, and 11,716 bags from Thailand.
“The 6,000 bags from Vietnam actually form part of the 79,000 bags which arrived in the province in the latter part of last month,” Canoy said.
The 11,716 bags are the remaining buffer stock from Thailand which arrived in November last year.
“We can only account as actual inventory those that are already unloaded and received at the warehouses,” the NFA official said.
The unloading of 159,739 bags of rice from Myanmar via MV Tan Binh 79 was completed last January 19.
The shipped stocks totaled 160,000 bags, but some were considered bad order stocks and were rejected.
For commercial rice, the latest inventory totaled 947,600 bags stored by millers, wholesalers, retailers, and households in Negros Occidental.
Canoy said the existing supply of both commercial and government rice in the province is good for 54 days.
Negros Occidental has an average consumption requirement of 20,600 bags per day.
The NFA participation in the entire consumption requirement is only up to 10 percent, and with its current inventory, the imported rice stocks would last for about 86 days, or more than two months.
Canoy said the unloading of the recent importation has been affected by the bad weather. The vessel is covered and it cannot be opened especially when it is raining as stocks might be damaged.
“Based on our contract, the supplier has the responsibility to ensure the quality of the stocks from vessel to pile. We will not accept bad order stocks,” Canoy said.
