October 22, 2019

 
African swine fever curtails Philippines' import of corn, wheat 

African swine fever is undercutting the Philippines' demand for animal feed - as such, the country's total grain imports, including wheat and corn, is likely to fall in the next marker year, Manila Bulletin reported in mid-October.

The US Department of Agriculture-Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA-FAS) said in its latest Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) that after surging in market year of 2018-19, Philippine grain imports – composed mainly of wheat, corn and rice – will decline in market year 2019 to 2020.

The decline is expected even as the Philippines sees a return of normal weather following El Niño in 2018.

However, due to the ASF outbreak in the country, there was a 10% drop in hog  feed demand. Additionally, the Philippines' feed wheat imports are expected drop by 500,000 tonnes in the current market year, according to the GAIN report.

Corn imports were forecast to decline by close to 7% to 700,000 tonnes due to improved production and sufficient stocks.

Wheat and corn are the primary ingredients to making animal feeds, and with ASF threatening to kill more pigs in the Philippines, less feed demand is seen from the Southeast Asian nation.

- Manila Bulletin