The United States Department of Agriculture (DA) revised its forecast for the Philippines’ rice imports in 2022 and 2023 upward by 100,000 metric tons (MT) to a total of 3.1 million MT.
In its report released this month, USDA noted the Philippines’ continued strong demand for rice from Vietnam as the reason for the adjustment.
The DA warned local rice production for the year is expected to drop due to lower utilization of fertilizers whose price continues to surge in the global market.
Last May, the USDA estimated that the Philippines will bring in up to 3 million MT of rice for 2022 and 2023.
According to data from the Bureau of Plant Industry, a total of almost 1.97 million MT of imported rice already arrived in the Philippines as of July 7.
Bulk of the imported rice supply came from Vietnam at 1.58 million MT. Other countries that supplied rice to the Philippines include Myanmar with 158,129.28 MT; Pakistan, 119,550.78 MT; Thailand, 99,593.13 MT; China, 5,168.39 MT; India, 3,591.5 MT; Singapore, 822 MT; Japan, 303.1 MT; and Spain, 3.76 MT.– Jed Macapagal
