Record PH wheat imports expected
Credit to Author: EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ| Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2019 16:16:23 +0000
PHILIPPINE wheat imports are seen to reach a record 7 million metric tons (MT) this year, up 17 percent from a year ago and up 11 percent from the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) earlier forecast of 6.3 million MT.
In the Global Agricultural Information Network report of its Foreign Agricultural Service in Manila, the USDA attributed the projected increase to continued strong demand.
“For the past several years, wheat imports have been rising as demand for food and feed grains increases with the growing population,” the USDA said.
“Although primarily a rice-based diet, Philippine preferences are shifting from corn-based products to incorporating more affordable wheat products,” it added.
Wheat imports have increased consistently since 2016. Total imports that year reached 4.918 million MT, 5.704 million in 2017 and 5.987 million MT last year.
The USDA also attributed the record-high imports to higher demand for animal feeds, following a drop in corn production due to typhoons that hit the country in late 2018.
“Also, animal feeding is expected higher as demand for more protein in the diets continues to grow,” it said.
“This year specifically, the trend toward stronger wheat use have intensified due to typhoon-related losses in domestic corn. With domestic corn prices relatively high, the demand for wheat has surged, both in feed rations and for human consumption,” the USDA added.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol earlier said the increase in imports was an indication of the growing poultry and livestock industries.
In an effort to boost demand for animal feeds, he said his department was banking on its Sorghum Development Program, which aimed to produce an estimated 10 million MT of additional feed grains in 100,000 hectares of ancestral domain areas.
Meanwhile, global wheat production remained low this month, the USDA said, noting that global consumption also decreased due to lower feed and residual use in the European Union and Iran.
“Global trade is down as lower imports for Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam more than offset higher demand from Indonesia and the Philippines,” it added.
About 95 percent of the country’s wheat requirements are sourced from the US.
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