Agriculture ministry to buy back more rice, replenishing stockpiles

The agriculture ministry plans to buy back an additional 100,000 tons of rice from the private sector to replenish the government’s stockpiles, after some of the state rice reserves were released in and after March last year, sources said.

The move comes as government stockpiles remain far below 1 million tons, a level deemed appropriate, raising concerns about food security.

The ministry will also consider shortening the stockpiling period from the current five years to three or four years, which may increase the government’s annual rice purchases, sources said Tuesday.

The government, which has released a total of 590,000 tons since March 2025, decided in September this year to buy back 210,000 tons. Even so, private-sector rice inventories would remain high, leading the ministry to conclude that supply-demand conditions are becoming favorable for buybacks.

The timing of the buybacks will likely be decided based on data such as the 2026 harvest outlook as of last Sunday, which is expected to reflect the impact of prolonged rain earlier this year.

Demand for rice as a staple food in the year starting in July 2027 is projected at between 6.93 million and 7.1 million tons, while production in 2027 is expected to total 6.93 million tons.

Even with the additional buyback of 100,000 tons, private-sector inventories at the end of June 2028 are expected to be between 2.23 million and 2.57 million tons, well above the appropriate level of 1.8 million to 2 million tons.