Rice imports fall 12 percent

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s rice imports in the first five months fell by 12.55 percent on an annual basis to nearly 1.9 million metric tons, the Bureau of Plant Industry said.

Latest BPI data showed that rice imports from January to May reached 1.88 million metric tons, about 270,000 MT lower than the 2.15 million MT recorded in the same period last year.

Rice imports have been lower compared to last year’s figures due to high carry-over stocks after the private sector brought in a record-high volume of 4.8 million MT in 2024.

Industry players also anticipate better harvest this year due to the absence of extreme weather conditions, thus reducing the need for imported rice stocks.

Furthermore, the imposition of a maximum suggested retail price on imported premium rice will contribute to lower rice imports, as noted by industry players and international observers.

The Department of Economy, Planning and Development earlier projected that rice imports this year would hit only 3.45 million MT, a 28-percent decline from last year’s volume.

As of June 5, total rice imports have hit 1.92 million MT, with
three-fourths or about 1.43 million MT coming from Vietnam, the country’s top rice supplier, based on BPI data.

Rice imports from Myanmar reached 290,680 MT while those from Thailand and Pakistan hit 106,350 MT and 71,761 MT, respectively.

Meanwhile, the country imported 19,309 MT from India, 2,000 MT from South Korea, 1,350 MT from Cambodia, 1,200 MT from Singapore, 336 MT from Japan, 0.77 MT from Italy and 0.35 MT from Spain.

The BPI has issued 3,266 sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances from January to June 5, representing a total applied import volume of some 2.76 million MT.