The Philippines’s rice imports in January to August have reached 2.719 million metric tons (MMT) and are poised to surpass the 2.777 MMT it imported in 2021.
The latest data from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) data showed that the country’s rice imports during the 8-month period was about 64 percent higher than the 1.66 MMT recorded a year ago.
Imported rice arrivals in August alone rose by more than 50 percent year-on-year to 380,244.5 metric tons (MT) from 228,353.97 MT.
BPI data indicated that 5,920 MT of rice entered the country on September 1, bringing the total rice import volume from January 1 to September 1 to 2.725 MMT.
The agency said 137 eligible traders and importers brought in rice from Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Myanmar, Pakistan, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Bulk of the country’s rice imports or about 2.226 MMT came from Vietnam followed by Myanmar’s 201,799.28 MT, based on BPI data. The country’s rice imports from Thailand as of September 1 reached 139,651.375 MT while those from Pakistan reached 139,095.675 MT.
The country’s top rice importer based on the latest data was NAN STU Agri Traders with 132,360 MT followed by Manus Dei Resources Ent. Inc. with 127,061 MT. Completing the top five rice importers are Lucky Buy and Sell (120,723 MT), Macman Rice and Corn Trading (112,500 MT) and BLY Agri Venture Trading (98,341 MT).
Rice industry sources told the BusinessMirror that total rice imports this year would easily eclipse last year’s total import volume given the current pace of import arrivals.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) earlier projected that the Philippines, the world’s second-biggest buyer of rice, may import a record 3.2 MMT this year, driven by higher-than-expected purchases abroad.
Last month, the USDA revised upward its rice import forecast for the Philippines in 2022 by 100,000 MT from an earlier estimate of 3.1 MMT.
The USDA said it revised upwards its rice import projection for the Philippines because of the “strong” pace of imports this year.
The country’s total rice inventory as of July 1 declined to its lowest level in four months of 2.034 MMT. The volume was also 143,000 MT lower than the 2.177 MMT recorded stock inventory in July 2021, the latest Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed.
PSA said in a report it released last month that the country’s unmilled rice production contracted by 0.63 percent to 8.743 MMT in January to June, from last year’s 8.799 MMT.
The value of the country’s agricultural output in the first half contracted by 0.4 percent, mainly due to the anemic performance of the crops and fisheries subsectors.
Data released by the PSA showed that the value of farm output in January to June (at constant 2018 prices) reached P853.087 billion, lower than last year’s P856.66 billion.
Image credits: Andre Malerba/Bloomberg