MANILA: The country may see as much as 900,000 metric tons (MT) of rice imports in the first half of 2016 alone, which includes the 500,000 MT contracted this year and additional 400,000 MT the Philippine government is eyeing to secure by January.
Depending on how the dry weather affects the country’s rice production, the National Food Authority (NFA) said this could grow to 2 million tons for the full year of 2016 because of the strong El Niño.
NFA Administrator Renan Dalisay said the government has yet to decide the final import volume for next year but just for the first semester, it will likely be around 900,000 MT already.
“Ang normal kasi 1.7 million MT. Kapag sumobra ng 1.7 million MT, mga 2 million MT, nandun na yung preparation for El Niño [The normal requirement for the year is at 1.7 million MT. If it exceeded that or if it reached 2 million MT, then that will already include the preparation for El Niño],” Dalisay said in an interview with reporters on Monday in Quezon City.
Dalisay specified that the 900,000 MT includes the importation of 500,000 MT, which is part of the 750,000 MT contracted this year, and the 400,000 MT projected by the government.
It was the Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. who announced last week that instead of 1.3 million MT, the Philippines may just import up to 400,000 MT of rice on top of its annual regular imports.
Coloma said it was one of the directives of President Benigno S. Aquino III when he met his cabinet officials to discuss efforts to ease the impact of El Niño.
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the importation will take place in the second quarter of 2016 and will be “over-and-above” the usual volume of rice that the country imports annually.
“The recommendation of NEDA will be within the year but that will be tackled by NFA council in January next year,” Dalisay further said.
The Department of Science and Technology and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (DOST-PAGASA) projected that next year’s El Niño will exceed the severe dry spell conditions the country felt in 1997 to 1998.
The full effect of the current El Niño phenomenon, the agency added, will be felt in February and March, 2016 when the entire country is projected to get only 20 to 30 percent of normal rainfall.
It was reported in November that the country may importan additional 1.3 million tons of rice in order to ease the impact of El Niño. This was higher than the 1 million MT earlier recommended by the NEDA chief.
But since the harvest improved due to rains brought about by the recent typhoons, the government temporarily reduced this to 300,000 MT to 400,000 MT.
For this year, the country secured 1.7 million MT of rice imports, only 1.135 million tons of which is expected to arrive this year.
The country’s current stocks as of November 30 stood at 800,000 MT, which is good for 26 days.
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