The massive destruction caused by recent typhoons on corn farms of the country and the high cost of production would necessitate higher imports of corn for animal feeds of by 7.2 percent or 1.63 million metric tons for 2024-2025, according to the USDA-Foreign Agricultural Service in Manila.
The USDA also sees corn production only growing by 0.4 percent to 8.15 MMT from 8.119 MMT the year before.
“The forecast production increase will not keep pace with feed demand and FAS Manila increases its forecast for corn imports in MY 2024/25, as the broiler, layer, and pet food industries continue to grow,” Business Mirror quoted the report.
The gradual repopulating efforts of the hog industry while waiting for the commercialization of the African swine fever (ASF) vaccine could further drive up the demand for imported feed corn towards the latter part of MY 2024-2025.
The USDA-FAS Manila also increased its forecasts of feed and residual use by 2.7 percent to 7.6 MMT in the current MY from 7.4 MMT.
“Industry contacts report that the demand for chicken meat and eggs are expected to further increase within the current MY, as alternative sources of protein for the growing population,” it said. “Additionally, industry contacts also report a positive outlook for pet food this MY.”
The USDA-FAS Manila projects that food, seed, and industrial (FSI) consumption will rise by 1.4 percent to 2.23 MMT in the current MY from 2.20 MMT due to increased demand for corn-based food snacks and byproducts, such as cornstarch, oil, and syrup.
For rice, the USDA-FAS Manila said it expects rice production in the current marketing year to decline following the series of weather disturbances that struck the country.
The agency projects milled rice production to drop by 3 percent to 11.95 MMT from 12.325 MMT in the previous market year.
“The decline is driven by the combined effects of El Niño and La Niña on the MY 2024/25 crop, which negatively impacted domestic palay production.”
The agency also increased the country’s rice import forecast by 17.8 percent to 5.3 MMT from 4.5 MMT.
“The forecast increase is driven by the need to supplement supply, given the reduction in local palay output,” it said.
Data from the Bureau of Plant Industry showed that rice shipments from January 1 to December 12 have reached 4.48 MMT.
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