Palace issues EO authorizing NFA to import 350,000MT corn duty-free

Malacañang has issued an executive order (EO) authorizing the National Food Auhority (NFA) to import 350,000 metric tons (MT) of corn duty-free.

NFA Administrator Arthur T. Yap said the shipment should come in before June which is the start of the lean season for corn.

The importation aims to bring down feed costs of local livestock and poultry raisers, and subsequently, bring down meat prices, especially pork. Corn prices, on the other hand, are expected to hold firm.

Rod Bioco, president of Philippine Maize Federation Inc. (Philmaize). Bioco said that even at duty-free rates, the landed price of imported corn will be at the level of P11 per kilo compared to the current price of P9.50 to P10 per kilo in Luzon.

Mindanao corn prices are hovering at P10.50 to P11.50 per kilo but end-users in the region and the Visayas are now scouting for more storage space to increase their stockpile.

As news filtered out that the Philippines is planning to buy corn, prices in the regional markets have started to pick up, especially in Thailand, a major corn exporter where the commodity is now selling at $140 per metric ton from only $130 per MT in recent weeks.

Traders said that while the Department of Agriculture (DA) warned importers to avoid buying corn from avian-flu afflicted countries, alternative sources like the US are not attractive as the price may be too high. Estimates show it could reach $200 per MT.

"Normally, the announcement of corn importation would have a dampening effect on local corn prices but not this time because the imports will turn out to be more expensive than those produced domestically," Bioco said, adding that even with a bumper harvest, local corn prices are not expected to skid significantly.

There is an expected bumper crop in Luzon and Mindanao as more farmers shifted to planting corn when prices began shooting up in the fourth quarter last year.