April 30, 2007

 

Philippines' 200,000 MT corn imports to arrive in June    

 

 

The Philippine government has approved the importation of some 400,000 metric tonnes (MT) of yellow corn in two separate batches of 200,000 MT each to fill in a projected supply gap of one million metric tonnes for this year.

 

Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Arthur Yap said some 200,000 MT of yellow corn used for animal feeds is set to arrive by June to fill in the expected shortage.

 

Cargill Philippines Inc. and Toeffer International Asia Pte. Ltd., in a recent bidding, got the nod of the

National Food Authority (NFA) to procure 120,000 metric tons of yellow corn which will be imported from Argentina.

 

Yap said NFA will conduct bidding on May 17 for the remaining 80,000 MT.

 

He said the other 200,000 MT balance, which will serve as reserve stock, might come in at the latter part of the year.

 

However, Yap said this may not be needed as the DA projected a 6.917 million MT in corn production this year, or an increase of 835,000 MT or 13.7 percent increase from last year's output.

 

Corn is a major component in other agricultural sub-sectors, such as livestock and poultry feeds.

 

Yap said the DA has come up with mitigating measures to further increase production of the crop.

 

One such measure, he said, is the off-season corn production program which allows corn farmers to plant during the months of February to April to enable them to harvest during lean months.

 

The DA also started promoting especially in the Bicol Region the intercropping method wherein corn will be planted under coconut areas.

 

On the other hand, National Corn Program Director Dennis Araullo said corn production is much better this year compared to last year which is projected to increase by seven percent from January to June production this year.

 

The DA estimated a 2.8 million MT corn production for the first six months of the year, which is a 7.9 percent increase compared to 1.9 million MT production in 2006 for the same period.

 

Yap said there was also an increase in the prices of local corn which follows the increase in its value in the international markets due to biofuel.

 

He said the value of feed wheat, which is a substitute for corn, has increased as well also due to strong global bio-fuel demand for corn.

 

According to reports from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS), corn was selling at P9.10 (US$0.19) per kilogramme last year.

 

This year, corn posted a P1.33 (US$0.027) per kilo increase in price, allowing farmers to enjoy higher income and profits.