PHL to increase rice exports to 300,000 MT by 2016

The Philippines, which will export an initial small volume of high-value rice this year, expects to increase its rice exports to 300,000 metric tons (MT) by 2016, the Department of Agriculture said. According to DA Assistant Secretary and National Rice Program coordinator Dante Delima on Monday, the Philippines will export 50 to 100 MT of premium rice varieties—heirloom rice varieties from Benguet and colored rice varieties from Quezon and the Mindanao region—to Hong Kong, Macau, and Europe this year. “This can narrow the [trade] deficit [in rice] because we will be importing cheap rice and exporting premium rice,” said Delima. Exporters will be shipping as much as 100,000 MT of premium rice by 2014 and 300,000 MT by 2016. The Philippines has also been decreasing its volume of rice imports—from a record 2.45 million MT in 2010 to 860,000 MT in 2011 to 500,000 MT in 2012. Of the 2011 total, the National Food Authority imported some 200,000 MT as buffer stock. Of the 2012 total, 120,000 MT was brought in by the NFA. For 2013, the agency expects to import somewhere between 150,000 MT to 200,000 MT as buffer stock. Increasing exports while decreasing imports should prevent a possible drop in prices due to the influx of cheap rice from other Southeast Asian countries, said Delima. The Philippines is committed to import a minimum access volume (MAV) of 350,000 MT of rice subject to 40 percent duty. — BM, GMA News