The total volume of rice the Philippines will import in the first quarter is likely to be significantly lower compared to the same period in 2024, as local farmers begin the harvest season and traders hold off on imports, awaiting further softening of global prices.
Agriculture assistant secretary and spokesman Arnel de Mesa told reporters that around 640,916 metric tons of imported rice had arrived in the country between 1 January and 13 March. Even with two weeks remaining in the first quarter, it is evident that the January-March import volume will fall short of the 1.19 million metric tons recorded in the first quarter of 2024.
Rice imports so far this year account for 58 percent of the expected volume of 1.1 million metric tons, based on applications for sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance issued by the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI). The total import volume of 1.19 million metric tons in the first quarter of 2024 was just 34 percent of the anticipated volume of 3.62 million metric tons.
Asec de Mesa noted that the Philippines’ implementation of the maximum suggested retail price on imported rice, along with India’s lifting of the export ban on non-basmati rice, were viewed by international industry watches as major policy shifts that have helped stabilize global rice prices.
Global rice prices have already reached a two-and-a-half-year lows after soaring to unprecedented levels due to the impacts of the El Niño and India’s export ban.
Last year, the Philippines imported a total of 4.81 million metric tons of rice, just 51 percent of the projected rice import volume of 9.39 million metric tons based on the number of SPSIC applications.
