THE wholesale price of rice declined year on year in January, but inched up from a month earlier, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), citing preliminary data.

The PSA said the national average wholesale price of regular-milled rice declined 6.9% year on year to P39.81 per kilo, but increased 4.5% from December.

The average price of well-milled rice was down 3.7% year on year to P45.16 per kilo, but rose 5.3% from a month earlier.

The average price of premium rice remained little changed in January at P50.60 per kilo, compared with P50.70 a year earlier. However, it was up 5.8% from December.

The wholesale price of special rice averaged P53.07 per kilo in January, slightly lower than the P53.10 recorded a year earlier. It increased 4.3% from a month earlier.

The national rice inventory as of Jan. 1 grew 6.4% year on year to 2.34 million metric tons (MMT), according to a separate PSA report.

Of the total stock, 44.6% was held by households, 36.7% by commercial traders, and 18.7% by the National Food Authority (NFA).

The PSA said rice held by households fell 1.1% year on year to 1.04 MMT.

Commercial inventory declined 0.2% year on year to 858,880 MT.

NFA holdings, meanwhile, jumped 54.1% year on year to 438,750 MT.

Month on month, the rice inventory fell 13.5%. — Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel