April 26, 2005

Philippine corn farmers expect price slump

Despite an ongoing drought in the Philippines that affects corn output, the industry is expecting a slump in prices below the 9-peso/kg mark.

One reason was attributed to feed-miller giant San Miguel Corp. contracting major corn traders in Mindanao. An industry official said that by issuing purchase orders of not less than 100 tonnes per day to three large traders, the corporation would push prices down and make it harder for farmers to bargain for higher prices.

However, an official of the Philippine Association of Feed Millers said San Miguel's buying system has hardly changed, and a decline in corn prices could simply be because of a decrease in livestock demand.

An impending import of 100,000 tonnes of duty-free corn around June has also been making farmers uneasy. But the National Food Authority is confident there would be a floor price of 10 peso/kg once the imports are sold out to feedmillers.