Philippine rice imports to remain steady at 3 million MT

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines may continue to import three million metric tons (MT) of rice next year, driven by higher consumption, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

In a report by its Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), the USDA said Philippine rice imports are projected to remain steady at three million MT next year.

“Flat production and ample stocks keep imports steady, even as consumption grows,” the USDA said.

The Philippines’ milled rice production for next year is forecast at 12.41 million MT, slightly lower than the 12.47 million MT projected production for this year.

“Consumption is also up in the Philippines as the high price of wheat is expected to raise consumption of rice for food,” it said.

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

Meanwhile, the USDA also expects the Philippines’ wheat imports to remain steady at the 6.3 million MT level next year.

“With no domestic production, imports are expected to remain flat to satisfy both food use and feed use,” the USDA said.

It said global production of wheat is seen to reach 775 million MT next year, four million MT lower from the previous year.

“The largest cut to production is in Ukraine, which is projected to have a crop one-third smaller than the prior year, with reduced harvested area and lower yields due to the ongoing war with Russia,” the USDA said.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar earlier said there is a need for more funds for fertilizer subsidies to increase palay (unhusked rice) production.

Dar said the sector would need an additional P6 billion worth of subsidies for the wet season, on top of the P4 billion worth of fertilizer subsidies allocated for the palay sector.

He said this would help sustain the country’s palay productivity level as he emphasized the need to boost the country’s rice sufficiency amid disruption in the global food supply chain.

Latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that palay production declined to 4.5 million MT from 4.63 million MT, while corn production declined to 2.41 million MT from 2.45 million MT.

Dar attributed the overall contraction in agricultural production to the rising prices of fertilizer.

“So this is not what we are harping on. We need additional fertilizer subsidies to be given before the wet season,” Dar said when sought for comment on the agriculture sector’s first quarter performance.

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.

Latest data from the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority showed that the average retail price of prilled urea reached P2,969.92 per 50-kilo bag from May 2 to 6. This is more than double the P1,150.83 per 50-kilo bag price in the same period last year.