The Philippines is seen importing more rice and wheat this year and next, a report of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said.
USDA said the country’s production of corn may slightly go down while that of copra is set to increase.
USDA said the Philippines is expected to import 6.8 million metric tons (MT) of wheat for crop year 2021 to 2022, almost 5 percent higher from the 6.5 million MT for crop year 2020 to 2021.
The agency expects higher consumption of food-grade wheat in the Philippines will more than offset the reduced demand for animal feed wheat due to the African swine fever (ASF).
For the current crop year, wheat imports were slashed to 6.5 million MT from 6.8 million MT with the lower demand for feed-quality wheat as ASF continues to affect the hog population.
In another report, USDA said the Philippines may have to slightly add more rice imports for 2022 to 2.1 million MT from this year’s 2 million MT due to the possibility of lower production against rising demand.
Based on the agency’s projections, China will be the top importer of rice next year at 2.6 million MT while the Philippines and the European Union will be tied at the second spot, at 2.1 million MT.
The USDA said Philippine corn production may go down to 8 million MT this year from 8.3 million MT last year but did not cite the reason.
The agency said global copra production for trade year 2021 to 2022 is forecasted to increase over 4 percent to 6 million tons largely due to higher production in the Philippines and India.
The report said worldwide copra meal production is projected to go up 4 percent to nearly 2 million MT on higher output from the Philippines but trade is projected to be flat despite global consumption rising slightly.
Philippine production of copra is seen to increase to 2.6 million tons for the period, an increase of 8 percent over the previous year as yields return to normal. Copra meal consumption is also expected rise to 580,000 tons and coconut oil consumption to be higher at 700,000 tons on larger supplies.
