The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) cut its projections on the Philippines’ milled rice and corn production for the year.
In a report released October 3, among the reasons cited for the adjusted projections include lower fertilizer use as well as the effects of typhoon Karding.
The USDA revised its forecast for the Philippines’ rice production for market year 2022-2023 as of July to 11.98 million metric tons (MT), down by 3.5 percent from the original 12.41 million MT forecast.
The agency said the Philippines is now expected to import as much as 3.4 million MT worth of rice, up by 3 percent from the previous of 3.3 million MT.
The USDA maintained the country’s demand for the period at 15.6 million MT.
According to data from the Bureau of Plant Industry, a total of 2.91 million MT imported rice arrived in the Philippines as of September 22. Bulk of the imported rice supply came from Vietnam with 2.39 million MT.
The USDA revised its forecast for the Philippines’ corn production for market year 2022-2023 as of July at 7.9 million MT, down 4.8 percent from the original 8.3 million MT forecast.
Because of lower production, corn imports for the period could reach 1.7 million MT, an 88.89 percent surge from the original forecast of 900,000 MT, according to the USDA report.
The USDA sees that total demand for corn will be at 9.6 million MT, up by 4.35 percent from the original 9.2 million MT forecast.
