The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) has revised the country’s total rice import volume for 2024 to a record-high 4.78 million metric tons (MT), reflecting an increase of about two percent from the previous estimate of 4.684 million MT.
The revision followed a validation process by the BPI, which updated its figures for November and December. In December, rice import arrivals were recorded at 454,802 MT, surpassing the earlier estimate by nearly 95,400 MT. The rice import figure for November was also adjusted upward to 457,515.5 MT from the prior record of 456,975.5 MT. Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa noted that the revisions were due to additional rice shipments, particularly in the final days of December.
According to the BPI, only 51 percent of the projected 9.372 million MT of rice imports for the year arrived in the country. A total of 9,795 sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances (SPSICs) were issued to rice importers in 2024, with about 66.13 percent of these being utilized.
The increase in rice imports has been linked to the need to bolster domestic supply due to challenging weather conditions faced by local farms during the first half of the year. Additionally, a reduction in rice tariffs from 35 percent to 15 percent, as mandated by Executive Order 62, has encouraged more private entities to source rice from abroad. This measure was implemented to help stabilize retail rice prices, which had been contributing to inflation.
In terms of overall inflation, the country’s average annual rate in 2024 slowed to 3.2 percent from 6 percent in 2023, with food prices, particularly rice, showing more moderate increases. Rice inflation, which had peaked at 24.4 percent in March 2024, dropped significantly, with the December rate reaching 0.8 percent, the lowest in three years.
Despite the slowdown in rice inflation, the average annual rice inflation for 2024 stood at 15.8 percent, a significant rise from the 8.1 percent recorded in 2023.
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