Philippines ‘Wait-and-see’ mode on further rice import

THE PHILIPPINES, the world's top rice importer, is on a “wait-and-see” mode as far as further imports of the staple are concerned. Government officials said there were enough local stocks from previous orders and the estimates on drought-damaged crops were still being firmed up. “We are still on a ‘wait-and-see’ status. We are not under pressure because we ordered early and there are still deliveries coming in,” NFA deputy administrator Jose Cordero said in an interview. The NFA frontloaded 2.28 million tons of rice imports during tenders held in November and December last year. The total import volume for 2010, including the private sector’s, is at 2.48 million tons. “Out of our imports, about a million tons are still for delivery. The rest have been unloaded here or are in transit,” Cordero said. As for damage to rice crops due to the El Niño dry spell, NFA marketing director Romeo Jimenez said the estimated losses have not been verified and the interagency committee on rice and corn has not made recommendations on the matter. He added that local harvests in the coming months would add to the country’s grains inventory. More than 2.66 million tons of rice stocks are in government and commercial warehouses as well as in households, according to NFA documents. At a consumption rate of about 36,000 tons a day, that volume is enough to last 74 days. The government also noted that even drought-hit Isabela province saw its farmers harvesting palay. Mariano Dancel, National Irrigation Administration-Magat River Integrated Irrigation System operations manager, said in a phone interview that more than half of their service areas had already harvested palay. Magat dam serves about 77,000 hectares of farmland, mostly in Isabela. Palay planted on 33,000 hectares of land in Magat’s service areas were also maturing, Dancel pointed out. He said Magat dam could still provide irrigation water for these fields for about two weeks, by which time the dam’s water level might be down to 150 meters above sea level. The dam’s water level is currently at 153 meters and the normal level is 156.22 meters.