The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said Philippine rice imports for the year will hit 2.6 million metric tons (MT), slightly higher than its earlier projection of 2.5 million MT.
USDA said this is due to additional shipments from Vietnam from which it buys 90 percent of its import requirements.
The Philippines buys seven to 14 percent of its rice requirements.
It has become the world’s biggest rice importer last year and is expected to remain so this year and next.
This year’s import volume is expected at 2.6 million , lower than 2.9 million MT in 2019, is expected to increase to 3.3 million MT in 2021.
The report said milled production of rice in the country is estimated at 11.7 million MT for this year but this may drop to 11 million MT by 2021.
Consumption is seen to hit 14.3 million MT for 2020 but can reach 14.4 million MT by next year.
The government, however, has dropped plans to import this year 300,000 MT of rice under a government-to- government scheme.
