July 21, 2006

 

Philippine 2006 wheat and corn imports to see sharp increases

 

 

Philippines' wheat imports for animal feed may double this year and corn imports could grow as much as six times due to strong demand from local meat producers, a senior industry executive said on Thursday (Jul 20).

 

Floods and rains from December to March, which damaged corn crops, also forced feedmills and poultry and livestock firms to turn to imports, said Ric Pinca, vice president of the Philippine Association of Feedmillers.

 

Wheat imports this year may likely return to the 2003 level of 1.15 million tonnes, Pinca said. Philippines imported 593,000 tonnes of feed wheat in 2005.

 

Local firms have so far bought 733,263 tonnes of feed wheat, Pinca said.

 

Of the 572,163 tonnes that had arrived, the bulk came from Brazil at 226,189 tonnes, followed by Canada at 138,000 tonnes, China at 123,025 tonnes and Ukraine at 84,949 tonnes.

 

Corn imports are also likely to rise to 336,940 tonnes this year, six times the 55,000 tonnes bought in 2005.

 

Manila has granted an import quota of 216,940 tonnes that can be brought in at the minimum tariff of 35 percent, imports beyond the quota are subject to a tariff of 50 percent, he said.

 

Data from Pinca's association indicated imports of 258,296 tonnes of corn for animal feed in the first half of the year, more than four times the volume bought in the whole of 2005.

 

The association said the bulk of the corn imports came from Argentina at 156,906 tonnes, followed by the United States at 42,716 tonnes and China at 58,674 tonnes.

 

Pinca said his association would renew its petition to the government to raise the corn quota subject to the lower tariff by 120,000 tonnes. The Philippines government had refused the petition the first time, saying that the government needs the revenue from the tariffs. It also expects the upcoming harvest would ease the shortage.

 

However, feedmillers were worried that the harvest might be jeopardised by heavy rains in recent weeks.

 

As for soymeal, Pinca said he expects soymeal imports to be "slightly lower" than the 1.6 million tonnes bought in 2005 as carryover stocks from last year were abundant.