Corn production may drop this year

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s corn production is expected to further decline this year to 7.8 million metric tons (MT) mainly due to unfavorable prices caused by imports, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

In a report by its Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), the USDA said it is revising downward its forecast for corn production from its earlier projection of eight million MT.

The 7.8 million MT projection is also lower than the 8.03 million MT production in 2020.

In contrast, the USDA is maintaining its forecast for area harvested at 2.5 million hectares, which is three percent lower than the areas harvested in 2020.

“Philippines corn production and area declines are primarily due to unfavorable market prices as imports of feed corn have driven domestic corn prices to low levels,” the USDA said.

“Although local corn production costs have been lower, profit margins have continued to decrease since 2018. Additionally, African swine fever has caused a reduction in hog and broiler feed consumption, which has swayed farmers’ decisions to plant less corn this year,”it said.

The USDA said that yield is estimated at 3.12 MT per hectare, three percent lower than its earlier projection.

This is also four percent lower than the 3.2 MT per yield registered last year.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported earlier this week that the value of corn production in the third quarter dropped by 18.6 percent to P32.68 billion.

In terms of volume, production of corn in the third quarter also declined to 2.29 million MT.

This brought corn production in the nine months to 6.17 million MT, lower than the 6.5 million MT in the same period last year.

Local feed producers earlier urged the government to impose a uniform tariff of five percent for yellow corn imports, emphasizing that the local supply of yellow corn has been falling in previous years, which is one of their main requirements to produce animal feeds.

“A uniform tariff of five percent is expected to immediately create a level playing field for livestock growers, most especially swine raisers adversely affected by the entry into the country of low-price imported pork,” the Philippine Association of Feed Millers, Inc. (PAFMI) said earlier.

Currently, corn imports are levied 35 percent within Southeast Asia following the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA). Corn imports are slapped 50 percent for those outside ATIGA.

Corn growers group Philippine Maize Federation Inc. said any proposal to amend the tariffs on imported corn is a death sentence to the industry.

In late July, the DA created a technical working group to study possible reforms in the tariffs of imported yellow corn in a bid to provide a lower and steady supply of the commodity to farmers who use it for animal feed.

Results of the study have yet to be released by the DA.