RP’s wheat imports from US expected to remain flat

The country’s food wheat imports from the US is expected to remain flat this year as the weakening purchasing power of the peso is driving Filipinos to eat less pan de sal and other bread products.

Mike Spier, assistant regional director of the US Wheat Associates (USWA) said the declining consumption of bread has been noticeable in recent years.

For 2006, the Philippines’ food-grade wheat imports from the US is projected to be just slightly higher than last year’s total imports of 1.9 million metric tons.

"The per capita consumption of bread products in the Philippines is only about 17 to 18 kilograms which translates to an average of just two pan de sals daily," noted Spier in yesterday’s launching of the Mabuhay Tinapay Program, a collaborative effort of the Philippine Association of Flour Millers (Pafmil), Champflour and the USWA to raise Filipino households’ consciousness on the significance of eating high-quality bread products.

The Mabuhay Tinapay Program, aside from reviving the interest of Filipinos to increase their intake of bread produced from vitamins-enriched and Iron-fortified locally-milled flour, is also intended to recapture the US wheat export market in the Philippines.

Spier noted that prior to 1998, food-grade wheat imports by the Philippines was growing at five percent annually, but this has since then dropped to a lower growth of two percent annually.

The US is the largest and most reliable supplier of wheat in the world and the Philippines entire food-grade wheat comes from the US, making it one of the top 10 export markets for US wheat.

Spier said that while US wheat prices has gone up by an average of 40 percent since last year, other production inputs of Philippine flour millers have also gone up such as fuel and electricity. On the other hand, local bakeries and pastry makers also have to content with increasing prices of ingredients such as wheat flour, sugar and eggs.

"The pan de sal and other bread products are becoming less accessible to the average Filipino consumer," said Ricardo Pinca, spokesperson of Pafmil.

Pinca noted that the reduced consumption of bread by Filipinos speaks volume of the country’s economic health.

"When the economy is good, bread consumption usually goes up, and subsequently, when Filipino households are struggling to make ends meet because of higher prices of food, products and services, they tend to eat less bread and go for other cheaper staples like rice," stressed Pinca.