PH projected to import record high 4.7M MT of rice in 2024
The US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service has increased its estimate of the volume of rice that the Philippines will import this year to a record high of 4.7 million metric tons – from the June projection of 4.6 million MT- following the cut in import tariffs.
“The Philippines is a major consumer of rice and, in recent years, has become the largest rice importer with recent policy changes spurring additional imports,” the report said.
Last June, Pres. Marcos signed Executive Order No. 62 that, among others, slashed the levy on imported rice to 15 percent from 35 percent in a bid to quickly bring down local rice prices that have been stoking inflation.
If the estimated volume will materialize, then it would be an increase of about 30 percent from the 3.6 million MT of imported rice that entered the country last year and will surpass the record high of 3.8 million MT recorded in 2022.
As of July, the country has already imported 2.3 million MT, based on data from the Bureau of Plant Industry. Of this, Vietnam accounted for 1.71 million MT.
“This increased level of imports has resulted in closer connectivity between international and Philippine rice prices,” it added.
The USDA noted that India’s export ban on regular milled rice last year eventually led to an increase in local prices.
This as following India’s moratorium on exporting non-basmati rice, global traders turned to other suppliers including Vietnam and Thailand, the country’s sources of imported rice, resulting in higher export prices.
“Buyers in the Philippines chose to pay these elevated prices from Southeast Asian suppliers, which resulted in higher retail prices in the Philippines,” it added.
