MANILA: A Philippine government panel will recommend an additional 1.3 million tonnes of rice imports following crop losses from recent typhoons and dry weather caused by a severe El Nino, the country’s economic planning chief said on Thursday.
The figure is higher than the 1 million tonnes recommended last month by Socio-economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, who heads the El Nino Task Force panel. The plan needs approval by the National Food Authority (NFA) council, which is expected to meet later this month.
Additional purchases by the Philippines, one of the world’s biggest rice buyers, could support export prices in Vietnam and Thailand, the country’s main suppliers, ahead of expected buying demand from Indonesia, Iran and African nations.
The 1.3 million tonnes would be on top of 500,000 tonnes that the Southeast Asian nation has already bought from Vietnam and Thailand for shipment in the first quarter of 2016.
“Our recent assessment is that would probably have to be 1.3 million metric tonnes but that’s not final,” Balisacan told reporters. “Obviously we will need more for the second quarter.” Balisacan, who also sits as a member of the NFA Council, said last month that any additional rice purchase should be carried out by year-end.
About 5 percent of the country’s projected paddy rice harvest for the fourth quarter was estimated to have been lost after Typhoon Koppu ploughed into major rice-growing regions last month.
Rice output in the third quarter was already estimated to be slightly lower than initially projected due to crop losses from El Nino, pest attack and typhoons. Actual harvest data will be released next week.
Prior to Koppu, the government was already assessing the need to import more rice amid expectations that El Nino, which typically brings dry weather to much of Asia, would intensify and extend until the second quarter of 2016.
If approved, the recommendation will bring the total rice import approvals for next year to 1.8 million tonnes, exceeding purchases for delivery this year totalling 1.79 million tonnes.
