Feedmillers to remain reliant on local corn

MANILA, Philippines - Feedmillers are still inclined to source most of their corn requirements domestically as prices remain stable even after a lower second quarter harvest.

“We will always support the corn farmers of the Philippines,” said Norman Ramos, president of the Philippine Association of Feed Millers (PAFMI).

He said, however, that feedmillers would bring in additional feedwheat imports for the year as prices of the alternative feed ingredient becomes more competitive to corn.

“If world prices of feedwheat are competitive, industry players will import as the need arises and as prices are competitive relative to local corn,” he added.

Ramos noted that importing yellow corn from the US or South America “remains uncompetitive due to world commodity price and tariff rates.”

Data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) showed that corn production in the first half of the year  was placed at 3.32 million metric tons (MT),  down 4.2 percent from the 3.42 million MT output in the same period in 2012.

In the second quarter of the year alone, corn output fell 25.9 percent to 1.075 million  MT from the 1.451 million MT produced in the same period in 2012 because of moisture stress and shifting to cultuvation of oil palm in Cagayan Valley, ARMM, Ilocos Region and Western Visayas.

The third quarter harvest, based on farming intentions, is expected to rise seven percent to 2.60 million MT from the previous 2.43 million MT.

The average farmgate price of yellow corn for the first six months of 2013 was P12.05 per kilogram, lower than P12.92 per kilogram last year.

Philippine Maize Federation (PhilMaize) president Roger Navarro said that farmgate prices of yellow corn are currently placed at P13.60 to P14.