November 20, 2006

 

Philippine bumper corn crop to cut 2007 grain imports

 

 

A bumper harvest of corn in the Philippines this year could significantly reduce imports of wheat and corn for feed milling in 2007, an industry executive said Friday (Nov 17).

 

"If the production estimate is correct, then we may no longer need to import as much wheat and corn," Ric Pinca, executive vice president of the Philippine Association of Feed millers Inc told reporters.

 

The Philippine's 2006 corn output could reach a record high of 6.14 million tonnes, up 17 percent over last year's corn production, mainly on favourable weather conditions, the Department of Agriculture said early this week.

 

Forecast of higher prices of wheat and corn in the global market could also dissuade feed millers from importing the grains.

 

Wheat and corn are major components in animal feed production.

 

According to Pinca, imports of feed wheat this year are expected to rise to nearly 1 million tonnes from an import volume of only 593,485 tonnes in 2005.

 

Wheat arrivals have so far totalled 911,520 tonnes and 40,230 tonnes are expected to arrive next month.

 

At the same time, corn imports could total 258,000 tonnes from an import volume of only 55,000 tonnes last year, he said.

 

However, the bumper harvest has put pressure on local corn prices, which now hover around 9.50 peso/kilogramme compared to around 11.50 peso/kg early in the year.