Philippine meat imports in 2017 rose by nearly 7 percent to a record-high volume of 691,462.564 metric tons (MT) due to the growing demand of Filipino consumers for processed-meat products.
Data released by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) showed that total purchase of meat abroad last year surpassed the 646,503.7 MT recorded in 2016.
BAI data indicated that bulk of the country’s meat imports were pork, accounting for about 44.18 percent of the total volume purchased last year. Pork imports in 2017 posted the highest increment, expanding by 10.65 percent to 305,479.806 MT, from the 2016 record of 276,066.999 MT.
“Pork cuts, bellies and deboned meat constituted about 30.19 percent or [92,234.802 MT], which are mostly used by meat processors, while the 69.81 percent equivalent to [213,245.044 MT] are commonly imported by meat traders, which includes fats, rind/skin and other products,” the BAI said.
Data from the attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA) showed that offal accounted for the bulk, or 43.17 percent, of the country’s pork imports last year. Pork offal imports in 2017 went up by 11.61 percent to 131,896.656 MT, from the previous year’s 118,180.154 MT.
Germany remained as the Philippines’s top source of pork and other meat products last year, according to BAI data. The country’s total pork imports from Germany last year slightly declined to 77,452.402 MT, from the 2016 record of 77,797.212 MT.
Data from the BAI also showed that total chicken imports last year grew by nearly 4 percent to 244,104.419 MT, from the previous year’s 234,742.766 MT.
“The United States remained the biggest supplier of chicken meat contributing 39.73 percent, followed by the Netherlands with 20.87 percent, Brazil with 13.87 percent, Canada with 10.72 percent, Belgium with 10.63 percent,” the BAI said.
“About 77.44 percent of the total chicken-meat volume was MDM [mechanically deboned meat], leg quarters accounted for 18.37 percent; chicken cuts constituted 2.82 percent, while offals, rind/skin and fats shared 1.38 percent,” it added.
The country’s chicken-meat imports from the United States reached 96,974.25 MT in 2017, 8.33 percent higher than the 2016 record of 89,513.061 MT.
Last October USA Poultry and Egg Export Council Vice President of Marketing Greg Tyler told the BusinessMirror that his group expects poultry exports to the Philippines to exceed 90,495 MT in 2017 due to expected increase in demand from the meat-processing sector.
“We see that the Philippines would remain as a top 10 market as far as our broiler exports are concerned. The meat-processing association in the Philippines continues to develop new products, so we see growth in these markets,” Tyler said.
The BAI noted that the common inputs for meat processing—MDM, fats and rind skin—accounted for the bulk, or 78.7 percent, of total chicken imports last year. Purchases of these raw materials from abroad reached 192,106.442 MT, 12.13 percent higher than the 171,316.846 MT posted in 2016.
The agency attached to the DA revealed that beef imports last year reached 102,920.016 MT, nearly 10 percent higher than the previous year’s 93,721.925 MT.
“About 64.03 percent or [65,904.153 MT] of the total volume was for beef cuts, and the rest were distributed as choice cuts [6.56 percent], deboned [0.48 percent], fats [15.79 percent]and offal [13.14 percent],” the BAI said.
Australia remained the top source of the country’s beef imports, accounting for 36.34 percent of the total volume imported in 2017, according to the BAI. Beef imports from Australia last year rose slightly to 37,396.409 MT.
Earlier, the Meat Importers and Traders Association said Philippine meat imports would hit another record high due to the sustained increase in demand for demand for processed-meat products.
Image credits: Bloomberg