Higher rice imports seen until next year

The Philippines is projected to increase its rice imports this year and next year by 100,000 metric tons (MT) to 3.1 million MT on higher demand, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

In its latest grain update, the USDA-Foreign Agricultural Service revised upward its rice import forecast for the Philippines to 3.1 million MT from its previous projection of three million MT for this year.

In increasing the import projection this year, the USDA cited the country’s “continued strong demand for rice from Vietnam.”

“Global consumption is projected up, primarily on increases for China, Benin and the Philippines,” it said.

This year, the Philippines is seen as the second top importer of rice next to China, which the USDA expects to import 5.8 million MT.

As of July 7, data from the Bureau of Plant Industry showed the country has already imported 1.969 million MT. Of the total, 80 percent or 1.581 million MT or rice were imported from Vietnam.

For next year, the USDA projects the country’s rice imports to reach 3.1 million MT, also an increase of 100,000 MT from its earlier three million MT import forecast.

The agency earlier forecasted the Philippines’ milled rice production at 12.41 million MT, slightly lower than the 12.47 million MT projected production for this year.

Rice consumption is seen to increase to 15.35 million MT next year from the projected 15.2 million MT consumption this year.

Last year, the country imported a total of 2.771 million MT, data from the BPI showed.

Meanwhile, rice production reached an all-time high of 19.96 million MT due to strong rice harvest, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Former agriculture secretary William Dar earlier said the country would be forced to continue importing rice due to lower production, weighed down by reduced usage of fertilizer which has become more expensive.

He cited the need for more fertilizer subsidies to prevent a decline in palay production, which could reach as much as 1.1 to 1.3 million MT, based on estimates from the Philippine Rice Research Institute.

This year’s palay production for the first semester already dropped by 6.8 percent to 4.5 million MT due to rising prices of fertilizer.

Fertilizer prices in the international market have been rising since last year mainly due to larger demand from countries, as well as higher freight cost.

The Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority earlier pushed for government-to-government (G2G) deals with fertilizer producing countries and set pricing caps to mitigate the spike in prices of fertilizers and its raw materials.

The USDA also expects Philippine wheat imports to increase by 200,000 MT to 6.5 million MT this year.

According to the USDA, imports are needed to satisfy both food use and feed use.