The country’s rice imports in January to April reached 780,068.53 metric tons (MT) , slightly higher than the 778,969.397 MT recorded a year ago, latest Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) data showed.
BPI data obtained and analyzed by the BusinessMirror showed that 84 percent or about 656,132.55 MT of the total volume were imported from Vietnam.
Total sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance (SPS-IC) issued by the BPI for rice imports during the period reached 1,416, corresponding to an applied volume of 1.629 million MT (MMT).
The number of rice SPS-ICs issued by the BPI during the four-month period was 56 percent lower than last year’s 3,236, corresponding to an import volume of 2.678 MMT.
Data from the attached agency of the Department of Agriculture showed that 1.464 MMT of the 1.629 MMT applied volume of rice to be imported by eligible importers and traders would come from Vietnam.
BPI data indicated that rice importers applied the most number of SPS-ICs in April at 731, with a corresponding import volume of 725,304.3 MT.
Earlier Monetary Board member V. Bruce J. Tolentino told the BusinessMirror that higher domestic rice harvests, as well as higher international rice prices may be behind the decline in imports.
Tolentino also said international rice prices have moved up “due to deliberate efforts by both Thailand and especially Vietnam to dominate the market for high quality and high priced aromatic rice.”
“Myanmar is having problems meeting its supply contracts due to domestic unrest. But the increases have been moderated by the growing role of India in the global rice market.”
Federation of Free Farmers Inc. National Manager Raul Q. Montemayor said traders may have reduced their rice purchases as their margins have been cut due to the hike in world market prices.
Montemayor also said rice wholesale prices are now being influenced by domestic production, thus making importers think twice about buying rice from broad.
“They are really looking at the prices. If they will not earn much from the landed cost then they will reduce [import] volume,” he told the BusinessMirror.
United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) data showed that the average quotation for Vietnam rice (5 percent broken) in the first quarter reached $507.4 per MT and $484.6 per MT for its 25 percent broken variety. The figures were 36.9 percent and 38.3 percent higher than their respective quotations in the previous year, based on FAO data.
Also, Thai rice quotations have gone up by 17 percent to $529.6 per MT (25 percent broken) and 16.6 percent to $561.2 per MT for its 100 percent broken variety, FAO data showed.
However, Tolentino noted that the country doesn’t have “enough experience and data to be able to estimate elasticities,” or how the Philippines’s demand for international rice responds to price changes.
“But we can at least now expect the domestic market to be more responsive to market trends with the shift from quotas to tariffs.”
The country’s rice imports this year are projected to decline by 18.36 percent to a 4-year low of 2 MMT, due to expectations of a record domestic harvest, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.