DESPITE the increase in global pork prices, the country’s meat imports managed to rise by over 2 percent in January to September due largely to the double-digit hike in the purchases of imported poultry, government data showed.
Figures from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) indicated that the Philippines’s meat imports during the nine-month period went up by 2.4 percent to 613,102.546 metric tons, from 598,676.082 MT last year.
The nearly 14-percent hike in chicken imports and 19.12-percent expansion in beef imports were able to offset the 8.36-percent drop in pork imports due to higher global prices, BAI data showed.
Pork imports, which accounted for 41.57 percent of total volume, fell to 254,889.809 MT, from last year’s 278,167.271 MT. The country’s imports of all cuts of pork, except for rind/skin used for making chicharon, declined by as much as 30 percent.
Pork cuts imports declined 30 percent to 39,643.942 MT from 56,680.626 MT, while purchases of pork bellies, used for making ham, fell 12.43 percent to 27,682.081 MT.
The Meat Importers and Traders Association (Mita) and the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (Pampi) attributed the drop in pork imports to higher world prices caused by China’s scramble to plug the shortfall in its supply. China’s domestic hog farms were nearly decimated by the dreaded African swine fever (ASF).
However, the Philippines continued to buy imported poultry as purchases went up by 14 percent to 229,188.304 MT from 201,113.709 MT on the back of higher mechanically deboned meat (MDM) imports.
Chicken MDM imports, which accounted for 67 percent of total meat purchases, grew 8.25 percent to 154,494.081 MT from 142,718.673 MT last year.
Also,
purchases of imported chicken cuts (breast, drumsticks and wings) and chicken
leg quarters expanded by an annualized rate of 71.82 percent and 8.62 percent,
respectively.
Chicken cuts imports reached 17,655.529 MT during the nine-month period while purchases of chicken leg quarters from abroad reached 49,153.208 MT.
BAI data also showed that the country’s beef imports expanded by 19.12 percent to 101,961.05 MT, from last year’s 85,592.198 MT.
Mita President Jesus C. Cham told the BusinessMirror that the latest data did not yet take into account the impact of local ASF outbreaks as the recorded arrivals were booked before July, or prior to the confirmation of the outbreaks.
Because of this, Cham said the figures could go down further and this could be reflected in the data during the fourth quarter or the first quarter of 2020.
Noting the purchases last year, an industry source told the BusinessMirror that the 2.4-percent increase in total meat imports from January to September is quite “anemic” considering the country’s population growth and increasing demand for meat products.