Series of Typhoons Hikes up Philippines’ Rice Imports

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ByHui Yin

In a report, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) stated that shipment of milled rice bound for the Philippines might exceed 5 million metric tons (MT) per year until 2025. This is due to the recent series of storms that reduced local production.

In the same report, the USDA hiked up its projection of the Philippines’ rice imports due to a “smaller crop,” estimated at 5.3 million MT for 2024 and 5.4 million for 2025. This projection was higher than the USDA’s previous forecast of 5 million MT for 2024 and 5.1 million MT in 2025. Should the projections be met, the yearly volume of inbound cargo of rice will surpass the record-high 3.83 million MT in 2022.

The USDA revised upward its projections on rice imports as it pegged the domestic milled production at 12 million MT this year. The production number is lower than the previously projected 12.3 million MT.

It was in 2023 that the Philippines became the world’s biggest rice importer. Based on the USDA’s monitoring, the Philippines have overtaken China which held the top spot in 2021 and 2022. Data also showed that the Philippines will remain the biggest importer until at least 2025.

In an earlier report released in November, the USDA noted that the Philippines is importing “record amounts” of rice as demand picks up alongside reduced import duties. According to the agency, the Philippines relied on Vietnam, the leading source of imported rice, for more than 80% of shipments.

Back in June, President Marcos signed Executive Order No. 62, slashing rice tariff rates from 35% to 15% until 2028. The move is intended to augment local supply while managing prices and alleviating the inflationary pressure of commodities. Based on the latest figures from the Bureau of Plant Industry, traders have brought in 4.35 million MT of imported rice as of December 5. There are at least three weeks to go but the volume was already higher than the 3.6 million MT recorded for the full year 2023.

November alone recorded rice imports with a total of 434,655.5 MT, approaching the highest monthly import volume of 572,073.96 MT that was recorded last October. The year-to-date import volume was also 148,564.5 MT away from the Philippine Department of Agriculture’s estimate of 4.5 million MT of rice imports for the entire year.

According to the DA, the influx of imported rice has made up for the substantial losses incurred in 2024 due to the string of typhoons that the country in recent months.

Hui Yin moved from Hong Kong 🇭🇰 to the USA 🇺🇸 when she was just 8 years old. Now in her late 20's she enjoys writing and taking long walks in the park to burn off the copious amounts of rice she eats for dinner.