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The National Food Authority (NFA) is planning to conduct a third round of auction in January 2026, following the sale of nearly 16,000 metric tons (MT) of its aging rice stocks.

This, after the NFA awarded 15,750 MT or 315,000 50-kilo bags during its second tender on December 5. The agency is expected to bid out 1.11 million bags of milled rice or 55,579 MT.

NFA Administrator Larry Lacson confirmed to the BusinessMirror that the grains agency would enter into a negotiated bidding with qualified participants for the 796,585 bags or 39,829 MT of remaining stocks.

He noted that the leftover stocks from the negotiation, along with the expected aging rice of 221,608 bags or around 11,000 MT by January, will form part of the final volume in its third tender next month.

Despite expressing confidence that the agency would release the remaining stocks under a negotiated sale, Lacson wants to expedite the trade amid the looming threat brought by the lifting of the ban on foreign rice in January.

“It will be lifted by January, so we have to be fast and negotiate this in December. Under the rules, it can be negotiated, so everything should be exhausted,” Lacson told this newspaper on Tuesday.

“Naturally, there are market forces. If there’s imported rice, then that’s a competition,” he added.

For his part, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. called the sale of 16,000 MT of aging rice a critical move to unclog storage and keep palay prices firm.

“We will continue finding ways to dispose of aging rice to bolster palay prices and farmers’ incomes,” Tiu Laurel was quoted in the statement as saying.

During the second tender, 68 sets of bid documents were purchased by 30 prospective bidders covering 618,660 bags. On the opening of auction tenders, only 27 were submitted for 31 lots.

Only 13 bidders with 25 lots advanced and were recommended for award, the agency said. It added that 14 were dropped for insufficient bid bonds, faulty documents, or offers below minimum volume.

Lacson said winning prices landed within the expected P22.52 to P25.16 per kilo range, a signal that traders’ re-entry could help temper retail prices.

“When these stocks move quickly, consumers feel the relief,” he said.

The NFA conducted the first auction of aging rice stocks in October, but Lacson said it failed as only a few participants joined the bidding.

 Currently, the grains agency has 1.2 million bags or 60,000 MT of aging stocks in warehouses nationwide, which the DA said prevented the entry of freshly harvested palay.

“With its mandate trimmed to buffer stocking and its ability to sell limited strictly to public bidding, clearing old rice has become a challenge.”

 Despite this, Tiu Laurel noted that pending legislation could change the game.

 “We are hopeful that once these measures pass, the NFA can swiftly dispose of buffer stocks and become far more effective in supporting rice farmers and lowering rice prices for consumers,” he said.

Source : businessmirror