Philippine agency to double local corn buys to 600,000 tonnes

The Philippine National Food Authority (NFA) said Friday it plans to buy up to 600,000 tonnes of corn from the local market, double its original target volume of 300,000 tonnes.

The state-owned grain trading firm's new target volume is intended to keep local prices of the yellow grain from falling further.

The agency is implementing a two-tiered buying mechanism where half of the volume would be procured at PHP13 a kg and the other half at PHP10/kg, NFA administrator Jessup Navarro told reporters.

Last month, the NFA said it was planning to export up to 150,000 tonnes of corn to its Asian neighbors including Vietnam and Indonesia in a bid to prop up local prices.

The export was planned following a significant decline in domestic prices, to PHP7-PHP8/kg from a record PHP26/kg early in the year.

Corn output this year is projected to rise 2.1 percent to 6.93 million tonnes from a year earlier.