MANILA — Rice prices may go down due to the Department of Agriculture's (DA) import talks with Vietnam and India, a senior official said on Friday.

DA Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban said some Vietnamese rice exporters quoted Filipino traders prices which were "US$30-40 lower since our meeting in Malacanang."

Panganiban said the agency would also "work with the government of India to allow imports on humanitarian grounds."

India, the world's biggest rice exporter, recently banned some overseas sales of the grain to pull down local prices.

• Rice market in turmoil as India curtails exports

Talks with India and Vietnam could allow the Philippines to get "better terms for the additional 300,000 to 500,000MT rice importation for this year," Panganiban said.

"This will help lower prices as it will further beef up our national inventory which, even without importation, is good to last for 52 to 57 days by end of 2023," he said.

Rice prices on international markets have soared to decade highs as the world grappled with the COVID pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the impact of the El Niño weather phenomenon on production levels.

• Traders cutting rice imports amid high prices abroad

Some private importers in July said their suppliers from Vietnam raised rice prices by $100 per metric ton. This translates to an increase of almost P300 per 50-kilogram sack.

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The DA is urging importers to bring rice in before the harvest season starts.

July and August are considered lean months, when local rice production is low.

President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. assured the public this week that the country would have enough rice supply until the height of the El Niño phenomenon next year.

— With reports from Jervis Manahan, ABS-CBN News; Deutsche Welle; Agence France-Presse ​

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