Asian floods a ‘blessing’ for local rice farmers–NFA

Flood across Thailand AP PHOTO

The worst flooding to hit Thailand that continues to keep thousands of hectares of rice fields in that country submerged is having a salutary effect on the price of the grain for local farmers, according to the National Food Authority (NFA).

NFA Administrator Angelito Banayo said local buyers, sensing a tightening of supplies from abroad next year, have offered to buy palay (unmilled rice) from local farmers at better prices.

“They see a tightening of supplies which will make importation for next year expensive, so they are buying rice from the (local) farmers,” said Banayo in a phone interview Thursday.

Even palay damaged when Typhoons “Pedring” and “Quiel” hit the Philippines recently was snapped up by local buyers at P14 per kilo, Banayo said. This was better than the NFA’s price of P10 per kilo.

Palay that was not ruined by the typhoons was being sold at P18 to P18.50, he added. The NFA buys rice from local growers at P17 per kilo.

“This is good for the farmers,” Banayo said.

Southeast Asian countries recently saw huge damage to their rice crops due to typhoons and monsoon rains, which pushed up rice futures in the global market.

Traders said they expect exported Thailand rice to be priced at $500 per metric ton (MT) from $367 starting next month.

In the Philippines, typhoons destroyed an estimated one million MT of rice, according to the Department of Agriculture.

As the world’s top rice exporter, Thailand was aiming to harvest 8 million MT in 2011.

But Thailand’s farmlands in the south suffered the worst flooding in its history recently, destroying about 10 percent of the crop and ruining stocks in warehouses.

Vietnam, which supplied the Philippines’ imported rice stock this year, was also affected by floods.

The Philippine government has yet to decide how much to import for 2012.

Previously, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said the country, which used to be the world’s top rice importer, would purchase no more than 500,000 MT from abroad. In 2011, the Philippines bought only 860,000 MT.