Majority of rice traders located inside Intercity Industrial Estate and Golden City Business Park in Bocaue, Bulacan have temporarily stop procuring palay stocks due to its rising cost that translate to a higher commercial rice prices.
It was learned that the said industrial estate and business park are two major rice trading centers in Luzon.
Tony Santos, a rice trader said that many of his colleagues in the grain industry have ceased from buying palay prices at P33 to P34 per kilo since this have caused wholesale rice prices to cost P2,600 per 50-kilo sack or P52 per kilo plus the mark-up prices of the retailers that causes a big burden to the consuming public.
He told The Manila Times that broken grain rice is now being sold at P2,050 per 50-kilo bag or at P41 per kilo.
On the other hand, Malou Tolentino, another wholesale rice trader, cited that many of their colleagues are now having a hard time in selling the staple grain costing more than P50 a kilo.
Many of them are apprehensive that rice prices may nosedive if the local market is bombarded with imported rice, Tolentino pointed out.
