Located in Southeast Asia, the Philippines is one of the top 10 rice importers of the world.  Last year itself, the country imported 3.7 million tonnes of rice and with that became the second largest rice importer worldwide. The Asian nation imports bulk volumes of rice whenever the stocks aren’t sufficient to meet the domestic demand and this time as well, data suggest that the Philippine’s rice stocks are down by 14% in March 2023, in comparison to last year.

Facts And Figures

The Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA) said in a statement that the country’s rice stocks continued to follow the downward trend. As per data presented by the PSA, country’s rice inventory stood at 1.41 million metric tonnes as of March, which is 13.7% lower than the rice stocks that the country had, back last year. 

In March, 2022, the Philippines had 1.63 million MT of rice to meet the needs of the people.

Talking of the distribution of the staple within the economy, different sectors hold different shares. The household sector leads the pack followed by commercial warehouses and National Food Authority Depositories. Of the total 1.41 million metric tonnes present in the Philippines, 57.6% is held by households; while commercial warehouses and National Food Authority Depositories hold 35.1% and 7.3% respectively.

However, the rice stocks held by all the three sectors witnessed a decline in March. Comparing this with the figures of February, 2023, the rice stocks inventory held by households, commercial warehouses and National Food Authority Depositories (NFA) declined by 7.5%, 8.7% and 1.6% respectively.

Supply Deficit Of Essentials In The Philippines

Not only rice, the Department of Agriculture of the Philippines, forecasted supply deficits of corn, pork, fish, raw and refined sugar for the current year.

Given the situation, the government’s Interagency Committee on Inflation and Market Outlook has recommended timely and active imports of essentials backed by data to fill the supply gap.

Particularly for rice, the government of the Philippines plans to import around three million metric tonnes of the commodity to narrow down the deficit and bridge the supply gap.

Also, considering the forecasts of El-Nino, the government intends to maintain adequate buffer stocks of rice, well in time so as to stay clear of the trouble.

The Bottom Line

With imports of 3.7 million tonnes of rice last year, the Philippines is the second largest rice importer in the world. The country imports bulk volumes of rice amid shortage of the staple in the economy and this time as well, The Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA) has highlighted that at 1.41 million metric tonnes, country’s rice stocks are down by 14% in March as compared to last year.

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