The annual Rice Import Market in Philippines is Estimated at around 2.5 Million Tonnes

As per the Philippines Import Data, the annual rice import in Philippines is estimated to be about 2.5 million tonnes about 2 million tonnes of high quality rice and half a million tonnes of lower quality rice.

The main suppliers of rice to Philippines are Vietnam and Thailand, who supply high quality fragrant and glutinous varieties to the country. India’s rice exporters are getting ready to ship the grain to Philippines from next month as the Southeast Asian nation has reduced the import duty on rice being shipped from India to 35% from 50%.

As per Philippines Export Data the country is the second largest importer of the commodity in the world. India will be exporting non-basmati rice to the country. In Philippines rice has grown on small family based farms with an average size varying from less than 0.5 to 0.4 ha so the ratio is small.

The possibility of increasing the plant areas is also exhausted. The yield increase has also begun to slow well. Also, the population of Philippines is also fastest growing in the world. The country has approximately 4.2 million ha of rice lands and produces about 11.2 million metric tonnes of milled rice, sufficient only for 90% of the population.

Rice is the staple food in the Philippines, more important to the economy and to the people at lower income levels so an important intervention point for the promotion of agricultural development and alleviation of poverty.

Rice is grown by many farmers in Philippines but it is also what nearly all consumers eat. Rice is considered socially and politically sensitive commodity and securing supply at whatever cost is important.

Once self-sufficient in rice, Philippines is listed by US Department of Agriculture as the world’s top importer of milled rice for 2007 ahead of Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nigeria. Over the past 20 years the country has lost nearly half of its irrigated land to rapid urban development.

The shortage in the production of rice is augmented by imports from other South East Asian countries, particularly Vietnam and Thailand. The country imported no milled rice from the United States in the year 2007.

The country is the world’s biggest rice importer purchasing between 1 million to 2 million MT each year mainly from Thailand and Vietnam. This volume is equivalent to 10% of the Philippines total rice consumption.

The Philippines is expected to import more rice in the year 2021-22 due to improving economic conditions and an upturn in sanitary clearances as per Philippines Import Export Data. Imports are estimated at 2.2MT up from 2 MT imported last year.

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